{"id":60730,"date":"2013-01-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/toxic-or-not-uri-freshmen-gain-answers-share-information-on-twitter\/"},"modified":"2013-01-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-23T00:00:00","slug":"toxic-or-not-uri-freshmen-gain-answers-share-information-on-twitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2013\/01\/toxic-or-not-uri-freshmen-gain-answers-share-information-on-twitter\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Toxic or not?\u2019 溏心vlog免费B站 freshmen gain answers, share information on Twitter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 January 23, 2013 \u2013 Hazards from exposure to insecticides, mercury, and lead and whether bottled spring water is free of contaminants regularly make headlines around the world.<\/p>\n


\n\tBut in Angela Slitt\u2019s class, \u201cToxic or Not?\u201d a 溏心vlog免费B站 Grand Challenges offering from last semester, the professor did more than just rely on compelling subject matter to engage her students. She required all of them to Tweet about what they learn and draw others to the Twittersphere to join them in the conversation.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe class satisfies a general education science requirement. Provost Donald H. DeHayes, who wanted freshmen to be stimulated by courses that focus on critical societal issues, launched the Grand Challenges courses two years ago.<\/p>\n


\n\tSlitt, an assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, organized the 24 students into eight teams and they competed to be tops in gaining followers and Twitter activity. They had to decide among themselves which Tweets they would send. They also chose their own somewhat foreboding team names, including Team DDT, Team Dioxin and Team Mercury. The students were all non-science majors from every college at 溏心vlog免费B站. The Tweets are fun, informal, a little irreverent and always informative.<\/p>\n


\n\tHere are a few:

\n\t\u2022 \u201cIf you use Teflon near your bird, be ready to say, \u2018Bye, Bye Birdie.\u2019\u201d

\n\t\u2022 \u201cChinese workers will risk their lives for hazardous materials in electronics for $8 a day, #astonishing.\u201d

\n\t\u2022 \u201cEver thought of mixing bleach and ammonia to really keep the house clean, well DON\u2019T because this will release toxic vapors.\u201d

\n\t\u2022 \u201cYears after banning DDT and the bald eagle population increasing, Eagle says thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe have 168 followers,\u201d Slitt said. \u201cThe students get extra credit for high impact followers like the provost, pharmacists, and members of our congressional delegation. Plus, I get to see what students are saying to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tDuring one part of the course, the students tested Slitt\u2019s children\u2019s toys for lead and Tweeted about what they learned. Some contained lead.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe talked about why we should be concerned about lead poisoning and what effect it has on learning and development in children,\u201d Slitt said.

\nShe said a study of inmates\u2019 dentin found high levels of lead. \u201cThe study revealed that early in life exposures could later have influences on behavior,\u201d the professor said.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe students learned about a variety of environmental challenges, and they learned how to use the Internet to obtain credible information. The whole point is to get them to think in an evidence-based way.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAs the class wrapped up just before fall semester finals week, Slitt surveyed the students to determine if using social media was an effective teaching and learning tool. The students seemed to think so.<\/p>\n


\nKarly Nash, criminology major from Pawtucket, said until this class she was unaware of how individuals come into contact with chemicals every day. \u201cExposure to these chemicals makes us so vulnerable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n


\nTiffany Gagliardo, a nursing major from Plainsboro, N.J., said exposure to toxins is more than a local problem.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just what is happening in our area, but what is happening around the world,\u201d Gagliardo said. \u201cIt\u2019s what is happening in places like China, and a big part of it is our impact on others.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nKyle McLimail, a communication studies major from Pawtucket, said social media is a central part of society now.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cBut some of the stuff on Twitter is just stupid,\u201d he said. \u201cThis class allows us to learn about new topics, do research on them and then put out helpful Tweets. \u201cPlus, requiring us to post Tweets that would be accurate, we all made sure we read the material beforehand.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI hate science,\u201d said Rachel Conboy, a pre-law major from East Hartford, Conn. \u201cBut this class is actually very interesting. This class sticks with you.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above

\nNOT TOXIC: Freshmen students in Angela Slitt\u2019s 溏心vlog免费B站 class, \u201cToxic or Not,\u201d examine toys for the presence of lead. None of the toys in the photo had lead in them. From left are: Tiffany Gagliardo, Kyle McIMail, Tyler Hie, and Rachel Conboy. 溏心vlog免费B站 Marketing and Communications photo by Joe Giblin. <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 January 23, 2013 \u2013 Hazards from exposure to insecticides, mercury, and lead and whether bottled spring water is free of contaminants regularly make headlines around the world. But in Angela Slitt\u2019s class, \u201cToxic or Not?\u201d a 溏心vlog免费B站 Grand Challenges offering from last semester, the professor did more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}