UC Santa Barbara

This dissertation investigates the experiences of undergraduates who publish in university-sponsored venues classroom papers written within lower-division courses. Dating back to the early 1900s, the publication of classroom work in student anthologies has become an extended practice in U.S. writing programs (Loomis, 2006). More recently, the expansion of the undergraduate research movement has enabled undergraduate students to participate in research journal publications.Even though it is frequently considered a signature practice of student-centered writing pedagogy, the undergraduate publication has had little research value for the field, and student voices were the least explored dimension. Undergraduate publications have been predominantly explored through the lens of instructors and administrators. Although this information has been central to understanding the phenomena, particularly in terms of the benefits and challenges of carrying out such an initiative, there is limited information about the meaning of this experience for the students themselves and how it impacts their writing development. This qualitative study takes a closer look at the phenomena and examines the experiences of undergraduate students who publish in university-sponsored venues. It has been designed drawing on phenomenology and narrative analysis methods to explore the publication of classroom work in two university-sponsored venues. It focuses on students who published work written within lower-division courses, to capture the initial relationship that students establish with publication and to understand the extent that this opportunity aids their engagement and social position within the university community. Additionally, it contrasts the experience of students from two different institutional contexts, a writing program’s anthology of student writing and a national undergraduate research journal. In line with the growing research that centers on student development from an emic perspective, I seek to lift the voices of undergraduate students, the underrepresented group in the currently available literature. Therefore, the central question that guides this study is: what meaning do undergraduates who published a paper written within their first two years of college ascribe to university publication? The findings of this study provide evidence about the value of undergraduate publication for the student participants, their role as authors as well as the networks and resources that support their engagement in the process. This is relevant information for writing researchers interested in the circulation of student texts and student authorship, but also for faculty and program administrators who seek to assess and/or improve the learning experiences of undergraduate students and their disciplinary development.