The “National Forum on Empirical Research in Education”, hosted by the School of Education of East China Normal University, has been successfully held for nine consecutive years since 2015. From November 1st to November 4th, 2024, the 10th National Forum on Empirical Research in Education was held at the Shanghai Banma Suhe International Conference Center. There were 40 parallel sub-forums, 12 special workshops, over 450 presentations, and 1,600 participants attending in person, demonstrating the tremendous power of the integration and fusion of empirical methods with educational theory and practice.

Experts and young scholars in higher education research from domestic universities such as Xiamen University, Tongji University, Hunan University, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, Tianjin University, South China University of Technology, as well as international universities like Kansas State University in the United States and Sindh University in Pakistan, were invited to give presentations at the forum. They engaged in in-depth discussions on the latest research progress and the application of cutting-edge methods in the field of college students' academic conditions, attracting numerous domestic and international participants and the heads of well-known publications and publishing houses.

Our postgraduate student, He Liqing, was invited to present at the sub-forum with the paper entitled “Mixed Research Methods Design for National College Students' Academic Conditions”. He Liqing explored issues related to the social and emotional abilities of first-generation college students. Her research focused on this special group of students and examined their characteristics and development in social and emotional abilities. First-generation college students typically refer to those who are the first in their families to enter university for higher education, and they face many challenges in adapting to university life and future career development. In her presentation, He Liqing used empirical research methods to analyze the development of social and emotional abilities among first-generation college students and analyzed the influencing factors of their social and emotional abilities. Based on the research results, she proposed targeted educational intervention strategies. Her presentation provided valuable references for educational practice and was highly affirmed by the participants present.