Ateneo students land in 3rd place in inter-collegiate chemistry quiz bee
A team of students from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Science and Engineering won 3rd place at the PACSiklaban 2016, a national inter-collegiate chemistry quiz bee organized by the Philippine Association of Chemistry Students (PACS), Inc.
PACS is a national, non-stock, non-profit organization geared towards the awareness and improvement of chemistry in the Philippines. One of its major events for its 900 members is the annual National Chemistry Students’ Congress (research symposium) and the PACSiklaban.
The PACSiklaban, now on its 27th year, aimed to test students’ aptitude in the 5 major fields of chemistry, namely Analytical, Organic, Inorganic, Physical and Biochemistry.
The students were coached by Nikita Bacalzo (Lecturer, Physical Chemistry), Henson Lee Yu (Instructor, Biochemistry), Valerie Miclat (Instructor, Organic Chemistry) and head coach James Pagaduan (5 BS MSE).
Coach Miclat said that the Ateneo PACSiklaban Team went through a 2-step training that identified the strengths of the individual members and a simulation of the actual competition.
“As the team underwent training, the coaches monitored the team’s scores to identify which areas needed improvement and reinforcement,” she said.
Miclat also added that the competition and symposium covered the academic and research aspects of learning Chemistry.
“The preparation for PACSiklaban made the students more competent in the theories of Chemistry and exposed them to questions that reinforced and enhanced what they learned in the classroom and in the laboratories,” she said.
The students were also able to present their projects and research projects during the symposium. This helped them educate their fellow students and get ideas from members of other universities.
“Ateneo can also benchmark the way Chemistry is taught and learned here with the way it’s done in other universities,” Miclat said. “In this way, the Chemistry department can concretely find ways in improving the quality of Chemistry education that it offers.”
According to Miclat, the Ateneo had been participating since the 90s. She and fellow coach Yu were part of the Ateneo teams that won 3rd place in 2008 and 2012 and 2nd place last year.
