Barriers cluster particularly around anything that relies on unaided working memory, unstructured time, or a single, one-off explanation with no written back-up.
|
Setting |
What it looks like |
|
Lectures / seminars |
Long, unstructured verbal delivery with no written back-up; instructions given once only, with no repetition or signposting of what comes next. |
|
Group work |
Informally negotiated roles; low-structure tasks that rely on self-organisation, which is precisely the skill most affected. |
|
Online learning |
Inconsistent week-to-week course page layout; no reminders or notifications for deadlines, requiring the student to independently track dates. |
|
Reading / written tasks |
Multi-stage assignments with no interim checkpoints or staged structure, making it easy to lose track of progress until the deadline is suddenly close. |
|
Assessment |
High-stakes, single-format, time-pressured exams; last-minute changes to format or deadline, which disproportionately disrupt planning that was already fragile. |
|
Communication with staff |
Hidden expectations that are never made explicit; feedback that names only what went wrong, without a concrete example of what a stronger answer would have looked like. |