There are mainly two styles of teaching at universities -- lectures and discussions. Each has its own characteristics.

 

　　Lectures are actually the teacher‘s talk to a class for the purpose of teaching. In this kind of class, the teacher plays a central role, while the students are mainly the listeners. Compared with lectures, discussions are more flexible. Students can examine and argue about a subject with each other in this kind of class. Lectures are especially suitable for big classes hecause it will be easier to keep the students under control, while discussions are typically for small classes for the reason that they are more likely to go out of control.

 

　　In a word, lectures and discussions are two quite different styles of teaching, so we should choose either of them or combine them together reasonably according to the circumstances.