Chemistry teaching to students aiming at university studies: Three chemistry periods a week are better than one

peer reviewedThe major importance of a high quality chemistry education in secondary schools is highlighted by the analysis of the results of a procedure developed at the University of Liège to help the students starting their university education, to evaluate their level of basic chemistry competences and to improve them if necessary. It turns out that students who followed three weekly periods of chemistry per week in the secondary school are clearly favoured compared to those who had only one period. These discrepancies show up not only on the starting competence level but also on the progress realized during the remediation step. The starting competence level influences also the strategy chosen by the student for his/her individual remediation