1. Seminar
“a form of academic instruction which has the function of bringing together medium- sized groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on a particular subject, in which everyone present is requested to participate”
A seminar is a form of classroom teaching containing anything from 6 to about 35 students.  These involve larger groups of students than tutorials but fewer than would attend a lecture, and is also a less formal kind of instruction than a lecture.
Tutorials and Seminars are small group discussion sessions.  They are designed to expand and elaborate on particular modular themes, or specific issues of historical debate.  They allow you to clarify and analyse in some depth points arising in lectures and from your own reading.  They also are intended to provide you with an opportunity to develop the important skills of oral communication, argument and analysis.  To this end you are asked to prepare thoroughly for them: without some knowledge of the subject, discussion will not be as beneficial as it should be.

2. Work in pairs or threes to find out what is your current understanding of the seminar teaching method.
One member of the group will tell us what the group agreed on.

3. Seminar teaching Supplements lectures face to face teaching method
Small to medium sized groups
Challenge to students
(unspecified) rules and assumptions
Large proportion of face to face studies takes place in this form…
Students are not necessarily good at this medium of teaching (may be anxious about exposure in front of their peers).
- Experienced group leader takes account of operating simultaneously intellectual as well as affective and social levels.

4. Teachers responsibility
Teachers need to make assumptions and practices explicit and visible.
Pre-distribution of reading material to whole group
Prepared questions
Teacher should be prepared to listen as well as talk.
Structured (student group, activities: to meet objective).
Listening skills -
Students do not know automatically how to participate, to listen to each other, or even how to learn from a seminar.
(++ the quality of your own listening will set a benchmark for the rest of the group)
Structure student group (smaller groups with defined tasks, avoid friends groups as reduces the value of the work..), structure content –discussion questions, structure through semester (number of sessions)…. To have a focused, informed discussion, not to stray away from the main points or objectives…

5. maintains group’s working environment,
establish ground rules about preparation and participation (note taking…etc).
Clarity of purpose
All participants are responsible for the success of the session.
responsibility to structure the seminar in such a way to enable participation, maintains group’s working environment, establish ground rules about preparation and participation.
[the secret of well run seminars is to know your stuff and not to make students feel insecure}…
-[ to encourage discussion forbid student to take notes excepty in an official minute taker (one student take notes for all)… [ or ask one group each week to take notes, teacher revise and mark them before distributing them to all]…
[ if students are not prepared, be ready to give an impromptu presentation on the discussion subject]…
At end tutor clear up misunderstandings, and draw strands of seminar t o gether…, start appluase if necessary and show that you mean it…]…

6. seminars are powerful medium of learning
Students:
learning to learn.
Students become fluent in the discourse of the subject.
Team work
provide students with an opportunity to develop the important skills of oral communication, argument and analysis
Seminars are not simply about learning in a single subject discipline, they are also about learning to learn.
The seminar system is intended to familiarize students more extensively with the methodology of their chosen subject and also to allow them to interact with examples of practical problems that can occur during the course of carrying out research.
It is a place where relevant articles are discussed, questions are raised and debates are conducted. 
At Exeter, most programmes at postgraduate level include seminars, which are essentially discussion groups chaired or led by an expert in the field who can facilitate and inform the debate.

7. Success of seminar is responsibility of both teacher and students
Teachers also have the opportunity to learn.
Success of seminar is responsibility of both teacher and students

10. problems Some students not contributing enough or at all
Some speaking too much
Losing focus on the topic
Not enough argument taking place
Too much note taking

11. Thank you……….