Cross-national comparison of representational competence

Flexible use of multiple representations has been described as it key compo nent of competent mathematical thinking and problem solving. In this study, 6th-grade American students are compared to 3 samples of Asian (Chinese, J apanese, and Taiwanese) 6th graders to determine if the well-documented mat hematical achievement of students from these Asian nations may be due in pa rt to a greater understanding of mathematical representations. The results show that, among all groups, Chinese students generally scored highest on t he representation tasks and, except on items about the visual representatio ns of fractions, all Asian samples scored significantly higher than the Ame rican sample. The results are discussed in terms of possible instructional antecedents and textbook differences.