Does the Sprint Planning meeting consist of two sessions??

Sprint Planning used to be divided into two parts (What and How), but this changed in the July 2013 revision of the Scrum Guide. Now these are treated as topics to be addressed. They still can be handled as separate parts of the Planning session...but they don't have to be.

Great, thank you for the clarification!

We actually started out as 1 meeting where the PO presents the items to the team. After each item the team starts asking (functional) questions to cover “all” scenario. (“all” is a questionable term) After that the team starts creating sub tasks and provide estimations.

Because the PO had a problem with the time that is needed for the Sprint Planning Meeting (4hours for a 2 week Sprint) we went back to Sprint Planning Meeting part 1 (the what) and part 2 (the how) where the PO is not mandatory in the second part. (PO is aware of the consequences of not attending the meeting)

I have worked with having two halves to the meeting and also having one meeting where we discuss each item and the team break down into tasks. I find that with complex projects, the team forget the understanding behind the acceptance criteria of what we discussed in the first half of the meeting. Therefore we changed to one meeting where we discuss and breakdown. For simple projects, I find you can do the meeting in two halves, but I favour the first method. I can see why the scrum guide got updated.

http://www.freescrumebook.com

Many a time we have only been able to pick out the items for the upcoming Sprint. We then break off for the rest of the day to think it over since you really don't have the knowhow to breakdown items into tasks so early on the first day of the the Sprint.

We usually have detailed discussions after our Daily scrum meetings and this is where most of the Sprint backlog emerges.

My quesution is related to the eastimation.

In which part of the Sprint Planning Meeting, team provide their estimations?

The Product Backlog Items are always estimated, ideally during backlog refinement session.
The Sprint Planning Meeting is the very last chance to RE-estimate the items.

> The Sprint Planning Meeting is the very last
> chance to RE-estimate the items.

Sprint Planning is the last chance to re-estimate prior to a Sprint Goal being agreed for the associated work. Re-estimation of items, and the work remaining, may continue during the Sprint. Estimates should be kept up to date, as the Sprint Backlog is subject to potential replanning.

So - for the exam should the expectation be that questions don't refer to a two part Sprint Planning session where the Sprint Goal is defined and Product Backlog Items chosen (what) in the first part and the plan (how) is done in the second half)?  Is the general wisdom now, and consequently the exam question more around that we identify a goal and choose Product Backlog items to fulfill that goal and then create a plan on how to accomplish the work to get to DONE?

I took the PSM1 last January and I don't recall any question where it was thought to be a 2 part session. It just talks about the timebox length and what should be accomplished during the event.

This is another example of using an external source as a study tool; you just cannot trust the content sometimes.