Lecture v. Discussion at Invisible Adjunct

I'm a little surprised at what's being said on IA about lecturing and discussion. I'll admit that I didn't like discussion classes while in college because most of the time, the discussions devolved into pandering to the lowest common denominator, and I was left frustrated, spinning my wheels. Anyway...people over at that thread are also talking about how some students perceive discussion days as days on which the instructor wants to slack off and not have to do anything. I admit having had those thoughts too. I'm following the pedagogical tensions here with interest.

UPDATE: The Little Professor has a good response.