> As someone who works at a university this is very reminiscent of students who don't understand the assignment then complain when they get an unexpected mark.

This is such a lazy and convenient conclusion for someone that is giving out instructions.

Another valid reason that the students might misunderstand an assignment is because they cannot read minds and the instructions are poorly written.

Good teachers are the ones that make themselves understood by the largest amount of students. Bad teachers are the opposite.

With my best teachers, I never had to question their grading, because it was transparent from the start. So if you are getting a lot of confused students, you might be the common denominator.

Buddhist monks learn by solving riddles and guessing the messages of cryptic messages called Koans. Lets agree that students at a faculty, literally paying for tuition, should not be subject to the same practice.