During the WAW standing group meeting at 4Cs16, our breakout group discussed the potential coordinations and disjunctions across interest groups in transfer (e.g. WAW, TFT, threshold concepts) and made some first steps in what might become an “elevator pitch” for talking about WAW.

Here are the notes from our breakout group:

Goal: Write an “elevator pitch” for the uninitiated to WAW.

Questions we discussed:

• In thinking about creating an elevator pitch, what do we need to acknowledge (implicitly or explicitly) and how does that change across audiences?
• How do we convey what we know to be true about WAW?

Possible audiences for the elevator pitch:

• Administrators
• Colleagues in our departments
• Colleagues outside of our departments
• Colleagues who teach writing
• The broader public

Possible pitches:

• WAW is a pedagogical approach that positions writing as a subject of study, emphasizes metacognition, which we know to be important for transfer. (This pitch seems directed to ourselves/ writing instructors)
• WAW helps students develop metacognition about writing and about themselves as writers. This type of reflective practice helps them to write more successfully in future contexts. (This pitch might speak to broader audiences, including , but is still incomplete.)

Feel free to add your ideas regarding an elevator pitch for WAW in the comments, and let us know which audience you imagine your pitch speaks to.