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This study explores Finnish university students' engagement and transitions from the first to the second study year. Student engagement is an important perspective for evaluating the success of transitions, both from the individual's and institution's viewpoint, in the early stages of a student's studies. In this study, student engagement has been modelled as an interaction of individual and collective processes related to learning. There is surprisingly little research on the transitions from the first to second year of study and on engagement construction from the first year onwards. The target population in the study was university students from all 13 universities in Finland who started their studies in the autumn of 2012. Altogether, 1176 students responded to the Engagement Evaluation Questionnaire (EEQ) in the springs of 2013 and 2014. The results showed that the intensity of engagement decreases during the second year of study, while the importance of individual elements of engagement, especially academic skills, may increase within the second year. It is noteworthy that there are differences of engagement between professional and generalist disciplinary fields. The probability of weak engagement seems to be more common in generalist fields. Most worryingly, those in the weakly engaging group from the first year of study onwards seem to remain in the group quite permanently, and the probability of belonging to the group even increases in the second academic year.

In the description of the complex relationship between individual students and their education context, as well as understanding of questions related to progression, retention or dropouts in higher education, student engagement is considered the primary construct. In particular, the significance of the first year of higher education in terms of engagement is decisive. We aim at developing a multidimensional conceptualization of engagement and utilized network analysis. Data were collected as part of the annual Student Barometer survey in Finland during the 2012–2013 academic year, and we gathered a nationally representative sample ( n = 2422) of first-year students in different disciplines at 13 Finnish universities. Network analysis confirmed the multidimensional process model of engagement and its six dimensions. The central dimensions of engagement are identity and sense of belonging, which develop in the interplay between individual and collective dimensions as a long-term process. Additional network analyses with covariates identified positive and negative factors that affect engagement. The study adds new perspectives to existing knowledge of engagement. It is important to understand the process-like nature of engagement and make visible factors affecting the process. Based on these findings, we provide novel practical recommendations for interventions for university students who struggle with engagement during their first year.

This study presents a new approach to estimation of a nonlinear growth curve component with fixed and random effects in multilevel modeling. This approach can be used to estimate change in longitudinal data, such as day-of-the-week fluctuation. The motivation of the new approach is to avoid spurious estimates in a random coefficient regression model due to the synchronized periodical effect (e.g., day-of-the-week fluctuation) appearing both in independent and dependent variables. First, the new approach is introduced. Second, a Monte Carlo simulation study is carried out to examine the functioning of the proposed new approach in the case of small sample sizes. Third, the use of the approach is illustrated by using an empirical example.