Creating Middle Ground: Transforming Outdoor Informal Learning Landscapes

Abstract

AbstractIn this article, we offer a model for shifting museums away from elitism and exclusion towards inclusion and community engagement. Rather than require all learners to come to the museum, we propose installing science exhibitions and pop‐ups in urban neighborhoods. The Transforming Informal Learning Landscapes (TILL) model integrates three key components—contextually‐relevant science, learning‐centered placemaking, and content‐humanizing facilitation—to change outdoor public spaces from hallways to living rooms, places people would want to spend time, socialize and learn science. We briefly present the model and then describe our partnership that used TILL to produce and facilitate Middle Ground, a free exhibition on the social science of biases, stereotyping and prosocial behavior in a diverse outdoor urban setting. The article presents evidence of the success of Middle Ground in support of the effectiveness of the TILL model. A companion research article describes a quasi‐experimental study of the effect of facilitation on visitor learning at Middle Ground.