Representation received increased attention when it was added as a new process standard
in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ (NCTM) Principles and Standards for
School Mathematics (2000). “The ways in which mathematical ideas are represented is
fundamental to how people can understand and use those ideas” (National Council of Teachers
of Mathematics, 2000, p. 67). Students use representations as tools to support their mathematical
understandings. Teachers’ presentations and uses of representations in the context of teaching
influence students’ knowledge of and uses of representations. This, in turn, is related to students’
mathematical achievement. Therefore, it is important to examine the nature of mathematical
representations and their uses in mathematics instruction