From my experience in an academic setting, project requirements can often be poorly defined. It is up to you to take the initiative, and clarify every vague notion about the project. It's best to get it in writing via email (just like in the workplace), so that you can reference it in the event of miscommunication.

I recently had to implement a project with very vague requirements, and even though I made my best efforts to communicate my confusions, the emails were not responded to in a timely fashion. Thankfully, I was unable to even implement it due to lack of skill, because it would have been the exact opposite of what was expected.

So, the other side of it is if you cannot get confirmation on a detail about a requirement, don't even implement it. Again, if you lose points, you can refer to the email correspondence, and argue your case to receive those lost points.

This all fits in with the corporate world as well, but things aren't as lax generally. Furthermore, anyone on the team can ask so that everyone benefits. The same cannot be said for a classroom of students.

I feel like I wrote about this subject a long time ago under different pretenses. This lesson has many faces.