Large Language Models for Education and Research: An Empirical and User Survey-based Analysis

TL;DR

This paper evaluates ChatGPT and DeepSeek LLMs in education and research, analyzing their accuracy, efficiency, and user experience through experiments and surveys, revealing strengths in language understanding, programming, and problem-solving.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive empirical and user-based analysis of two leading LLMs in educational and research contexts, highlighting their capabilities and limitations.

Findings

ChatGPT excels in language understanding and text generation.

DeepSeek outperforms in programming tasks due to efficiency.

Both models provide medically accurate diagnostics and solve complex math problems.

Abstract

Pretrained Large Language Models (LLMs) have achieved remarkable success across diverse domains, with education and research emerging as particularly impactful areas. Among current state-of-the-art LLMs, ChatGPT and DeepSeek exhibit strong capabilities in mathematics, science, medicine, literature, and programming. In this study, we present a comprehensive evaluation of these two LLMs through background technology analysis, empirical experiments, and a real-world user survey. The evaluation explores trade-offs among model accuracy, computational efficiency, and user experience in educational and research affairs. We benchmarked these LLMs performance in text generation, programming, and specialized problem-solving. Experimental results show that ChatGPT excels in general language understanding and text generation, while DeepSeek demonstrates superior performance in programming tasks due to its efficiency-focused design. Moreover, both models deliver medically accurate diagnostic outputs and effectively solve complex mathematical problems. Complementing these quantitative findings, a survey of students, educators, and researchers highlights the practical benefits and limitations of these models, offering deeper insights into their role in advancing education and research.