In these sessions, which usually last about an hour, the lecturer relies mainly on questioning as a means of guiding and probing student learning and understanding. This questioning technique is also used to get students to consider and answer their own queries. This helps prevent the lecturer from imposing ideas on groups and helps prevent any unfair assistance being given to individual groups. On the day, presenting groups are responsible for setting out the lecture room in a way that best suits their needs and they also set up the television and video equipment. Normally, tables are set out in six groups, corresponding to the number of other presenting groups in the class.
Students normally sit in class in their assigned presentation groups.
As part of the assignment, groups are required to submit a brief two page written report at the conclusion of their presentation. The purpose of the report is not so much for the benefit of the lecturer, but for the benefit of the group. By producing the information required in the report, it is anticipated the students will have given sufficient consideration to their topic questions to be able to reasonably facilitate feedback discussions in class and they will be more likely to keep to time. In addition, by noting who in the group did what, it allows the lecturer to check if the workload has been evenly distributed and it also gives a visual record that may help the students agree on an individual redistribution of marks, should it be merited. Once the lecturer has awarded a group mark for the presentation, the students are required to submit details of how the marks should be allocated to each person.