Computer science student refuses to work on project with assigned group, submits AI-generated project that he can’t explain, professor forced to fail him, despite multiple warnings that he wasn't meeting any requirements: 'Complete lack of understanding'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Nov 6, 2025 1:00 PM EST

As someone who recently graduated from college, I know how frustrating it can be having those classmates who just love to argue, like there's just no doubt that it brings them genuine bliss. But while they're getting their daily dose of dopamine by arguing with the professor, the rest of us are forced to sit back and let them ride out the but I know everything wave… Maybe it's because they think they truly are smarter than the person whose studied said subject for 30+ years, or maybe it's just because they like the sound of their own voice…? Either way, while they think they're solving world peace, the rest of us can't wait for them to be kicked out of class for the 3rd time this week.

This computer science student may not be the loudest in the room, but he sure is his professor's most 'difficult' student. After refusing to participate in the group project and demanding to work alone, this student earned his way into his professor's bad books with ease. Yet, on top of that, he still decided that using AI to complete his coding assignment would be a good idea. So what more is there to do with this student than to stick a giant red F upon his assignment, especially after being warned that it is unlikely his project would even meet the passing requirements…

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement

  • So many students these days take the “my way” approach to their university work and then act surprised when they fail coursework, assignments, or fall short on attendance requirements. College isn’t meant to be a walk in the park, and if you’re lucky enough to have a patient professor who’s willing to help you, and even compromise with you, yet you still choose to be a no-show, then you have no one to blame but yourself.

  • 01
    Professor helping his student with class work.
    via rido

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    Student made demands regarding a project and found out the hard way.

    One of the degree modules I teach involves students working on a group programming project. Nothing too elaborate, but the aim of the module is to develop skills they will need if they go on to work in the IT field.
    via Tubist61
  • 03
    After all if you're doing a Computer Science degree, you must be thinking of going down that route?
    via Tubist61
  • 04
    This one student is an absolute entitled nightmare. He uses GenAl for a lot of his work and it really does show.
    via Tubist61
  • 05
    He always pushed back on the written remarks on his work but every time I sit him down and ask him to explain the code he produces, he struggles and often has no idea how the code he submitted works.
    via Tubist61
  • 06
    In this project he came up and told me he cannot work with others in the group and must work alone.
    via Tubist61
  • 07
    I explained that there are specific group activities and efforts I would be marking and that I needed to see his input within the group.
    via Tubist61
  • 08
    There was no way I could excuse him from the group activities in the module, however I could see he was not going to budge and therefore complied with his demand to work on the project alone.
    via Tubist61
  • 09
    Group working on a team assignment.
    via jacoblund

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 10
    All the students in my class had been assigned to their groups and I did check in with all of them on a weekly basis.
    via Tubist61
  • 11
    This one guy was steadfastly refusing to work with the rest of his group and as I had complied with his request, he was working on his own project alone.
    via Tubist61
  • 12
    In my interim feedback at the end of each stage I repeated that he really should work with the group or he risked a failing mark for the module.
    via Tubist61
  • 13
    I made sure this feedback was sent to him both in hardcopy and also via email with read receipts which I kept.
    via Tubist61
  • 14
    Cue the end of the module and the submission for marking. Sure enough, the one student submitted a project based just on his own work and had not engaged with the group he was asked to work with.
    via Tubist61
  • 15
    There were several issues with his project, first and most important was it didn't meet the brief.
    via Tubist61
  • 16
    The code simply didn't do what we asked for. He lost marks for that aspect of the project.
    via Tubist61
  • 17
    As he had not worked with others in the group, he was not awarded any of the group marks allocated for the work.
    via Tubist61
  • 18
    Because his code was so far away from the specification, I called him in for a Viva Voce to explain the code and he demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the code he submitted, more marks dropped.
    via Tubist61
  • 19
    Young adult using AI on his computer.
    via Matheus Bertelli

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 20
    His eventual mark for this assignment was a hard fail. He must now resit the entire module.
    via Tubist61
  • 21
    There is of course one real downside of this whole thing that affects me. I've got him in my group again for the resit of the module.
    via Tubist61
  • 22
    R3D3-1 My favorite such story was where the not-lazy one had enough good marks to pass without the project, so when everyone else did nothing, so did he. They failed, he passed, based on previous work.
    via R3D3-1
  • 23
    OP Tubist61 If this student had followed the brief set for the project, he could have passed if what he delivered was his own work and of a sufficient quality.. It would be a bare pass as most of the marks in my mark scheme were for group work.
    via Tubist61
  • 24
    Vuirneen This is a guy that should fail. He doesn't understand the material, at all.
    via Vuirneen
  • 25
    Myrandall And of course he'll blame you when anyone asks him why he eventually dropped out of Computer Science, and not his own laziness/incompetence.
    via Myrandall
  • 26
    OkStrength5245 I had one like this. We all saw it at his defense of thesis. He obviously didn't know what was writing in. I asked the vice dean how we should proceed. He replied: " if you are to fail him, fail him good so there is no doubt he can usecto win a complaint. It is what we did. Nobody in his class was surprised
    via OkStrength5245
  • 27
    Mississippi Joel I had an Art Appreciation class where I was actually looking forward to taking the lead on the group project. I could tell the rest of my group was just there for the required electives. So I made it easy on all of them and said "Tell you what. I'll do everything. I'll just show everyone my receipts, and you all can pay for the materials, and just be sure to be here on presentation day." I don't know if they all didn't believe me or what, but they all (3 or 4) dropped the class
    via Mississippi
  • 28
    theoldman-1313 I really felt that OP has a firm grasp of the worst outcome from this situation - that he will have this person in his class again next semester
    via theoldman-1313

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

module failed students computer science coding course Professors group understanding entitled-student Reddit alone artificial intelligence know it all group work graded
Scroll Down For The Next Article