Earlier quoted context omitted.
A “recitation” session is generally a regularly scheduled classroom session that is not led by the professor or lecturer but by a teaching assistant (TA). These are along the same lines as a “lab” sessions used alongside Chemistry or Physics lectures.
May be it is an Americanism, never heard of the word used in that manner before(as a non American).
In Commonwealth countries at least, some synonyms for recitation are “tutorial” or “study group”.