Edit this for grammatical errors/spelling/word choice:

problem:
In your opinion, what was the cause of your lack of connection with the material? What could the author of the material have done differently to make it appeal to you?

I have an two exs of situations in where I had problems connecting with the materials. 
My first ex: I took a math class where the professor was from a foreign country and whenever she spoke it was very hard to understand her dialect. I literally could not make out what she was saying due to her poor English. Another problem I encountered during that class was that she covered the topics way too quickly and did not fully describe everything. She should have slowed down the speed of her teaching, because while some students already knew the material that was being taught other students including myself were not familiar with the subject. Also she could have learned to speak more clearly and pronounce words correctly so it would be easier to understand. 
The second ex I have: For my philosophy class (that was taught at a different university) we had to read the works of Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant, Bertrand Russell, Plato and Socrates, and Fiegl. The texts that were assigned for the readings were incredibly hard to understand. I had a lot of trouble with almost all the readings. The works of these philosophers are very philosophical and they were meant to be read by other philosophers. So if you do not have a background in philosophy or know the basic concepts, like epistemology or metaphysics, then it is really difficult to understand. I found myself constantly re-reading the texts over and over again just for it to make a little sense. Without my professor describeing what to expect beforehand I would be clueless. What helped a lot was reading the study guides e.g. spark notes after reading the text so I could kind of understand it.