Methods

Students ' performances on mathematical problems varying in symbolic form and the kinds of symbolic representations and translation used in instruction were explored. The sample consisted of 29 students enrolled in Algebra II in a summer program for minority students. All students were Black or Hispanic American and most were about to enter grade 11. For two topic areas--solving simultaneous equations in two unknowns and distance-rate-time relationships--sets of problems were developed that varied the symbolic form of the problem as given and of the response required. Materials that teachers used, student notes, and interviews with the teacher determined the symbolic forms used in instruction and the kinds of translation explicitly discussed. Results suggest that presenting students with only conventional symbolic representations of problems is likely to give a limited picture of their mathematica