<p>What is the difference between a discussion and a lecture? In lecture classes that have a corresponding discussion class, is the discussion part mandatory?</p>
<p>I’ve heard of some classes having some days that are lectures from the professor, and then one day a week you break into groups with TA’s (this goes mainly for the larger classes) and have discussions, get help with assignments, etc. I’m not exactly sure though.</p>
<p>Yea this is mostly in relatively large science classes. You’ll meet in lecture three times a week where your professor teaches you stuff, then you meet in small 5-7 people workshops with a TA and discuss the material and cover any issues that anyone has. I’ve found them to be very helpful.</p>
<p>Other than that, a lot of classes which are technically lectures are more like discussion classes. Especially in philosophy and the upper level classes, it’s far more the case that the professor says something and then the students discuss it with each other and the professor to get at the heart of the topic. A few teachers are rather fond of mixing this discussion with some socratic teaching, but those are rare.</p>
<p>If you have any class specific questions, I’m a current student and I can probably answer that for you. rankinr did a pretty good job answering your question but if you want any specifics I’m living it</p>