All the other answers hit very important points:

our life experiences deeply affect us and how we write
writing about life events, personal objects and people in our lives can bring a vitality and emotion to the writing that is more difficult to express about things and people that never touched us
while an autobiographic class may require you to bring forth real life events, it can't force one to write and make public something you do not wish to share
writing from real life experience supposedly simplifies the writing process (where it comes to motivations, etc), but some people act in ways that they themselves don't fully understand why until they stop and carefully reflect about it

I understand that one's life experiences affect how one writes, but one has so many life experiences, that one can actively pick and choose. Moreover, one can get hold of the emotion and use it for a different scenario.

Let's say that the teacher asks you to write about the loss of someone dear, but you do not wish to share true events. You can create a character that is a differente gender and, if appropriate, a differente age. You could even write about a kitten who's lost his mother! That way you can clearly distantiate yourself from the real people and use only the emotion that you have experienced.

However, if you do not wish to revisit the emotion itself, you can either create a sense of 'emotionless' on the characters (either because they can't feel emotion - ie, a sociopath(1) - or because they're in shock and can't process the events, therefore feeling almost nothing until later on, or even because they're animals and don't feel emotions), or you can detach yourself from the character. Have the narrator be someone else who observes the actions of the person who lost the dear one.

Notes:
(1) A sociopath doesn't have to be someone who revels in other people's pain and suffering; it is simply someone who feels no empathy. This means they can feel the sense of loss of a parent, and even feel sadness about it, just not in the same way as others.

Is it necessary to delve into my dysfunctional childhood in order to write good fiction?

Once I was told I should include twin siblings in my novel for the simple reason that I'm a twin and, therefore, it is the sibling relationship I'm most attuned with and it would add a touch of real emotion. The person hadn't even read a word of my draft! I felt like pointing out that twins can develop a relationship of deep love, hate or even indifference, just like most other siblings. I've met other twins and I know there's a wide variety of bondings. But the thing is: that particular life experience had nothing to do with my story. Feelings of losing a parent? Reacting badly to criticism? Feeling rejected? Yes. Sooner or later, we all get to experience those, after all.

In order to write good fiction, one needs to manage to put into words emotions that ring true to the reader. However, a good writer may be able to write a poignant love story without ever having been in love. If one understands the emotion (ie, researches and reads about real people expressing what love is for them until one understands the immense variations and faces that love can take on), that is perfectly feasible.

What you need to delve into is how you feel emotions, and then compare to how others feel emotions. Listen when people share their feelings - whether of sadness or happiness - and don't jump to say 'oh, no, I've never felt like that about this event', but instead try to imagine yourself in their shoes going through those emotions. Understand how they feel, even if it may be impossible for you to really know how they feel.

she seems determined to have me gut my childhood with the fiction class as being necessary for fodder for eventual stories.

I'm sorry but I must ask how this 'determination' expresses itself. Does the teacher ask for specific details? Does she actually say 'write about those emotionally gut-wrenching events in order to get a more poignat and vivid tale'? Or does she say to 'funnel' those emotions into your writing?

If it is the former, then have a private word with her and calmly express your desire of exploring more joyful experiences and/or other life stages. If she by any chance mentions how important it is not to disconnect from the bitter past or other such things, inform her your therapist says you have digested the 'bad' enough and it's now time to embrace a brighter future. Which is what you intend to do in your writing. Do feel free to invent said therapist.

If it is the latter, then perhaps the teacher doesn't really want you to re-hash real life events into your writing and simply wants you to use the strength of your emotions. If in the past you felt angry over things that happened to you, write about a grumpy old man who is angry at the whole world. Write about a person who is angry because they have just lost a promotion since the boss preferred to promote his nephew. Use the strength of the real emotion in a completely different event.

However, if you feel there is a great emphasis in dark situations, either talk to your colleagues and see if the group can ask the teacher for some more uplifting exercises, or try to twist the darkness into light. If the exercise is to write about death, then let your characters belong to a religion where death is joyful - since one stops suffering - and then focus all your being on that silver lining: yes, I've lost my dear friend, but I am deeply happy for them and I look forward to meeting them when my hour comes! You know, just like you'd be happy for a friend that moved to Australia to get married and start on their dream job even if that means you can never meet them again.

Good luck with your course.

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