Abstract
Abstract This chapter reviews the research on visual representations such as pictures, drawings, and diagrams and the degree to which they enhance mathematics word problem solving. Studies show that some representations are much more effective than others. However, simply adding pictures or diagrams to word problems as additional information for students to interpret is far less optimal than teaching students how to use these representations as well as giving them opportunities for practice and feedback. Once students become facile in creating or using readymade diagrams, some learning theorists suggest that cognitive load demands associated with solving complex or multistep problems are reduced. This is because students can offload the intrinsic demands of a word problem to the representation. Another potential benefit of visual representations is that they can help teach students how to discern important connections between variables, quantities, and relational terms in word problems.
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