I don’t think anyone in my class could actually complete the assigned reading in 2 hours. So it wasn’t a matter of different kids needing different amounts of time to do the same assignment. It was virtually nobody planning to do more than skim the reading on a regular basis. In seminar courses. So no textbook and no lectures to fall back on. Basically, most college students are “too busy” to study or, in the absence of weekly assessments, they don’t see the point.
Re the culture clash between academics and college students. In anticipation of my kid heading off to college next year, I recently re-read My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student. Highly recommended!