When I was an instructor for courses like "Intro to Programming", this was definitely the case. The students ranged from "have never programmed before" to "I've been writing games in my spare time", but because it was a prerequisite for other courses, they all had to do it.

Teaching the class was a pain in the ass! What seemed to work was to do the intro stuff, and periodically throw a bone to the smartasses. Once I had them on my side, it became smooth sailing.