They receive a series of conceptual questions on the assignment to write responses to prior to the next class session. During the seminar time in class permanently assigned groups meet to discuss their written responses. Students refine their responses based on the group's discussion. Subsequently, the instructor orchestrates a whole class discussion on the areas of confusion. At the end of the class, the instructor may collect seminar papers and assess them.
Constructive comments encourage students to reconstruct certain aspects of their understanding.
On the first day of class, students were given a policy statement explaining the seminaring concept. Emphasis was placed on the goal of actively involving the students in their own learning. Critical to the process would be their willingness to read their textbook carefully and to write thoughtful answers to conceptual questions based on their reading. Students were informed that they would be assigned to permanent groups of size 3 - 4 for the purpose of discussing their written answers to the seminar questions. These groups also served as study groups in which students helped one another with homework problems and with exam preparation.