As a second-year undergraduate, the importance of weekly readings has been repeatedly restated as the scary dissertation proposal and completed project loom. As such I have conscientiously begun to make the effort to do the weekly recommended readings. This is something that truthfully, I didn’t really do in my first year, with the exception of seminar and exam preparation, justified by my assessment marks not at all being negatively impacted by this choice.
This year, having newly decided to commit to readings, I found them mostly reasonable with their expectations with my lectures having on average 3 essential readings, some however set the delusional ambitious amount of 7-11 plus essential readings, with further recommended ones. This is an amount that is and will never be achievable for me. I find these longer reading lists especially excruciating, as the motivation I find to push through the shorter lists is nowhere to be seen, and as a result, these are the readings that I am most likely to neglect. Seminar and workshop preparation add to this expectation of having to read. This is something which, if you have invested time into the readings, can be frustrating if no one but you and the seminar leader can discuss the texts. But that is another discussion to be had.
While in exams I can benefit from being provided with extra time to mitigate my slower processing and comprehension abilities, extra time cannot be added to the 24 hours in a day
Despite universities becoming increasingly conscious of access arrangements that students with learning disabilities require to help support them through their degree programmes, this nuanced and necessary consideration is absent when discussing readings. As someone who was diagnosed with dyslexia in secondary school, the expectations of readings feel like a harder and longer battle, regardless if one or seven are set. While in exams I can benefit from being provided with extra time to mitigate my slower processing and comprehension abilities, extra time cannot be added to the 24 hours in a day.
A university friend with ADHD, like me, dreads having to do readings due to the time they demand, the inaccessibility of the information, the lack of support and the limited alternative options provided. Therefore, I feel the burden naturally falls onto the university to make the independent learning activities that are essential to degrees more accessible to ensure students aren’t struggling and being left behind due to factors that they can’t control.
I feel the burden naturally falls onto the university to make the essential independent learning activities more accessible to ensure students aren’t struggling due to factors that they can’t control
There are several approaches that could be taken to achieve this, such as capping the number of readings set or encouraging lecturers to provide a wider range of academic media for students to use to support their learning. Realistically, this has a low chance of ever materialising, especially for a university that was just ranked 76 out of 80 regarding the quality of its mental health support services.
