My current physics teacher's philosophy, as I understand it, is that he teaches something once, if no one says they need more instruction he moves on, and he do

My current physics teacher's philosophy, as I understand it, is that he teaches something once, if no one says they need more instruction he moves on, and he does not work out problems to a final answer in class. His explanation is that he wants us to learn to learn on our own and ask questions, but of course he won't answer questions if they relate to material we should already know. I haven't been able to figure out if this is a good thing or bad thing, rather it may come down to how students learn and what is the actual job/purpose of the instructor. If you learn the material before his lecture then there is no problem but then there is little reason to come to class other than it being a requirement and to enjoy the half of class he isn't instructing, discussing random topics and shooting the shit.