Can ChatGPT Pass An Introductory Level Functional Language Programming Course?

Abstract: The recent introduction of ChatGPT has drawn significant attention from both industry and academia due to its impressive capabilities in solving a diverse range of tasks, including language translation, text summarization, and computer programming. Its capability for writing, modifying, and even correcting code together with its ease of use and access is already dramatically impacting computer science education. This paper aims to explore how well ChatGPT can perform in an introductory-level functional language programming course. In our systematic evaluation, we treated ChatGPT as one of our students and demonstrated that it can achieve a grade B- and its rank in the class is 155 out of 314 students overall. Our comprehensive evaluation provides valuable insights into ChatGPT's impact from both student and instructor perspectives. Additionally, we identify several potential benefits that ChatGPT can offer to both groups. Overall, we believe that this study significantly clarifies and advances our understanding of ChatGPT's capabilities and potential impact on computer science education.