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As spring breeze brings warmth and vitality to campus, the new semester begins at Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT). Standing at a new starting line, how can students channel their efforts wisely, learn with ease, and pursue growth with greater wisdom?

In light of this, Prof. Daniel Tan from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at GTIIT, drawing on his personal experiences and insights from teaching, offers sincere advice on learning and growth ¡ª study smart instead of study hard.

The following is the full text of his message

Learning is no stranger to any Chinese students. From childhood, everyone has been taught the importance of studying and has been trained to do so¡ªsometimes over-trained. You can memorize a whole page of vocabulary at dawn and work through more problem sets late into the night. Yet when you arrived at GTIIT, did you sense that the old formula of diligence was not working well? Today, I would like to remind you of how to study smart instead of study hard.

1. Change mindset from "filling the bucket" to "lighting the fire"

My wife¡ªwho teaches Chinese as a foreign language¡ªwas tutoring a foreign child. This little girl can speak standard Mandarin after a few years of Chinese-style education. Yet when she encounters classical Chinese texts, she is miserable.

Your past learning experience made it easy to mistake "knowing" for "understanding" and "getting it right" for "being able to use". After you grow up, you realize the world is not an exam paper; many questions have no single answer. American educators say, "You don't fill a bucket, you light a fire." A university is so-called "big" because it offers many gray areas where you can practice decision-making under uncertainty, forge your thinking amid complexity, and learn how to study in diverse education styles. So, we no longer need to stuff the brain with facts. GTIIT had already implemented the new paradigm that helps ignite your fire. Four years here have made you different and internationally compatible. You are lucky, motivated and lighted up.

2. Rewrite "I have to learn" as "I want to ask"

With GTIIT, you became aware of "study-smart". It is not about "studying less", but about "getting more real benefit with less blind effort". It is problem driven. You read, listen, and do research with questions in mind. Instead of rote-memorizing everything, you focus on key points and take away selectively. You don't passively accept "the teacher wants me to learn"; instead, driven by personal interest and curiosity, you actively declare "I want to ask". That is the core of inspiring (heuristic) education. Your job is no longer just to hand in more answers but to pose better questions. You don't need to remember piles of knowledge and facts; you selectively master what is useful to you.

I have been working at GTIIT for seven years. At GTIIT, I always add personal insights beyond the textbook and urge students to open their mouths, because active questioning means you are participating, not watching from the sidelines. When you enter a classroom with questions, knowledge is no longer an island but a bridge to answer. Students who went abroad for higher education find that in Western classrooms or meeting rooms, silence is no longer golden; active participation and expressing opinions are contributions and the essence of teamwork. Only then are you welcomed. So, learn by participation.

3. Abandon perfectionism, learn to accept failures

Force-feeding education basically equates mistakes with failure, so we are used to "acting only when we are sure", "asking when we are ready". Real research is the opposite: we find our way in "not knowing". American classrooms popularize "Fail Fast, Learn Faster". Once you leave the spoon-feeding model, you suddenly have freedom and energy to learn actively, explore new areas with your passion, acquire new knowledge, and propose new ideas. Innovation arises in exploration, and it's common to make mistakes, fall, and start over. At university and early in your career, failure is just tuition, not a final verdict. Through many failures in my life, I became well learned and experienced. So, failure is not a landmine to avoid but a tool to use. Do not pursue perfection or worry about imperfections; accept your flaws gladly because that is the real you.

4. Upgrade from "single discipline" to "multi-dimensional"

Silicon Valley entrepreneurs love "T-shaped talent": the horizontal bar is broad cross-disciplinary vision, the vertical bar is solid professional depth. Smart learners find new continents at the intersection. A student from electrical-engineering or mechanical engineering who knows some materials science may design lower-loss magnetic cores or robots; a material-engineering student who understands biomedicine may have more options for graduate programs. Likewise, smart learning matters in the workplace. Focusing only on a single discipline is not enough. Your past knowledge will become obsolete, your skills invalid, your professional advantage may disappear, you must start anew. Working in American companies, I often studied new directions in advance, so I upgraded from a single-discipline expert to a multi-dimensional talent and from a newcomer to a leader in new fields!

Now, the challenges you face in the AI era are far greater than in my youth. The workplace no longer rewards solo combat but emphasizes communication and cooperation. In Western workplaces, people value working smart, not working overtime. At GE, if you needed to work late to finish, it showed a lack of ability. People don't take it fair. Therefore, smart learning, asking questions, critical thinking, and creativity are even more necessary for you. When others continue to dig deep along the single vertical bar of T, you initiate to lengthen the horizontal bar and upgrade to a multi-dimensional talent. In a few years, when AI generally reaches PhD level, the workplace will most need not "straight-A students" but people who can actively learn, connect diverse talents, and dance with AI. Otherwise, you will be trained by AI and even eliminated. Therefore, learn for both depth and breadth.

5. Upgrade from "having learned" to "being able to learn"

I have always valued hard study; I have lived that way for years. My generation has all received the education that "diligence can make up for lack of talent". After studying abroad, I kept learning and gained valuable experience. I have upgraded from "having learned" to "being able to learn". Today I also urge you to transform your learning paradigm because the computing power of your brain no longer matches that of AI. So, smart learning and able to learn are the sustainable magic weapon and the winning key, better than a degree certificate.

Dear students, smart learning is not laziness, but a higher level of diligence; it is not avoiding hardship, but enduring hardship at crucial moments. A survey of North American professors found three common weakness among Chinese students: critical thinking, logical writing, and proactive communication. Especially, working hard but hiding in the team won't be good for you. It's time to change your mindset from "studying hard" to "studying smart", to supply yourself with new ideas, new skills, and new heights. It requires you to dare to ask, dare to be wrong or failed, dare to cross disciplines, dare to share, and dare to keep renewing yourself.

May you all change from "filled buckets" to "lighted fires", so the light of knowledge illuminates both yourselves and others. I wish you immediate success in the year of horse!

Text/Photos: Daniel Tan, GTIIT News & Public Affairs