Discussions and seminars are an important part of university life so it's necessary to take part.

Make sure you come prepared - it's much easier to join in a discussion if you have something to say.

Make sure if you are talking about sources that you say what the source is you are talking about.

Discussions and seminars should be natural so you should have the confidence to disagree with people but remain polite.

Remember everybody in the group should take part, try not to say too much or too little.

University is a combination of taught study and self study. It is important that you become an independent learner and thinker. As part of your studies you will attend lectures, you may participate in practical group tasks, you will be expected to do a lot of reading and you may find you are asked to participate in seminars or discussion groups.

A seminar is a group discussion , an exchange of ideas. Seminars are valuable as they let you make a contribution to the knowledge of others by sharing your opinion or thoughts. In a lecture you will be an active listener not  a contributor. Seminar sizes will depend on your course but you may find yourself in a group of about ten people. You will be talking about your responses to a task your tutor will have set and sharing your information with those in your group.

At university you become part of a learning community. This means that as well as learning from your lecturers you will also be learning from your peers, the other students that you study with. A seminar gives you the opportunity to discuss seminar topics with a small group of other students from your course. The type of seminar you participate in depends on the course you are doing, however it is likely that your tutor will  set you a task or a question and you will have to go away and research it. You will then present your findings to the group. Sometimes you may be given a series of questions to think about, sometimes you may have to present your information to the group in a short presentation.

Don't think that because it's a group discussion you won't have to do any work. Everybody is expected to contribute.

Make sure that you do some research and make a note of your references.

Try to think not just of your own points of view on a topic but of other viewpoints. This will help you to argue against others if your discussion becomes heated.

Make sure that you have covered all the parts of the task that you have been set.

Make sure you don't take over in the discussion, everyone should get a chance to contribute.

Make sure you show evidence of your research and can explain why it is important.

If you are talking about the work of other people, make sure you state the sources you are using.

Remember it is  as important to be an active listener as it is to speak. You may want to make a note of things that other people in the group say so you can follow them up later.

Show that you are interested in what you are talking about, and that you are interested in what other people are saying. Try to use eye contact and sound confident when you talk.