Paul,
You are corret, the situation is about the same. I suppose the main difference is that many students accept instructor-presented programs at face value, never thinking that there could be errors and omissions. If it is in the machine and sponsored by the instructor, they just automatically ASSUME that it is a great, working program.
I once spent 6 months trying to help this PLC student on PLCS.net write a program for a light display built by a former student. After the first week, I was convinced (from the pictures and wiring schematics that she sent me) that the display never worked the first time, and would not work as she wanted, without major rewiring. The problem was that she trusted the instructors opinions more than mine. As a result, her project never worked, and she graduated from that course, not knowing why. Misplaced trust is a difficult obstacle to overcome. There seems to be no good fast way to prove that one opinion is better than another.