There are two main forms of teaching in Nottingham University: seminar(研讨会) and lecture. They are very different from the sort of teaching most often used in schools and colleges.
    In seminars you will be taught with discussion focusing on a text or topic set in advance in a friendly and informal atmosphere. The purpose is to provide an opportunity to try out new ideas and to think through difficulties with fellow- learners. Students develop friendships through groups, as well as learning more about other people’s ideas. You can also know your tutors as an individual rather than a face at the end of the room.
    Lectures are the most formal. There may be over a hundred in the audience and the lecture Mil last about fifty minutes. The value of the lecture is that it can present to a large number of people information which is not readily available in books, that it can give you an opportunity to hear a specialist develop a coherent (有条理的) argument, and that it can show visual material to a wide audience.
    Your typical week’s work will feel strange after school or college since there are fewer timetabled teaching hours. Each week in the first year you may attend about six lectures and four to six seminars or tutorials (辅导). For the rest of the time you are working on your own, doing the necessary reading in preparation for tutorials or writing seminar papers. When writing an essay or carrying out project work, you can often discuss with your tutor about the title and topic.