Difficult man

Last month my boss appointed me to supervised one guy who is doing his dissertation project since I am supervising one undergraduate student (Malaysian) who is also doing the same project. The challenge is...that boy is taking everything in a very complicated and difficult way. So, every time he come to see me, his face is will look like a fiber. "" Hee...i don't know the exact word for serabut (can anybody tell me, tq). mmmmmmmm....can somebody help me on how can i help him? I pity him but I also feel like kicking him.
hmm.....