Missing value and comparison problems: what pupils know before the teaching of proportion

This paper analyses grade 6 pupils’ mathematical processes and difficulties in solving proportion problems before the formal teaching of this topic. Using a qualitative methodology, we examine pupils’ thinking processes at four levels of performance in missing value and comparison problems. The results show that pupils tend to use scalar composition and decomposition strategies in missing value problems and functional strategies in comparison problems. Pupils’ difficulties are related to a lack of recognition of the multiplicative nature of proportion relationships