Abstract As the concrete carrier of abstract scientific concepts, representation serves as a pivotal cognitive mediator for students’ construction of scientific ideas. Scientific representational competence is the key driver that enables students to transition from passive decoding of representational forms to the active construction of representational meaning. Through a review of research in this field, it is found that the connotation of scientific representational competence possesses dual characteristics: both implicit and explicit. In terms of assessment methods, it encompasses both process-oriented evaluations (such as eye-tracking and verbal protocols) and outcome-oriented measures (including psychometric scales and AI-assisted assessments). Furthermore, the cultivation of scientific representational competence increasingly relies on educational technology. Future research should consider introducing social semiotics to reconstruct the definition of scientific representational competence to bridge the divergence of dualistic perspectives. Moreover, empirical assessment research is needed to deconstruct its skill components and the logical sequential relationships between them. Finally, instructional frameworks should be employed to regulate the application of technology, thereby precisely driving the development of scientific representational competence.
HU Bo-Kai, BI Hua-Lin. Research Trends and Implications of International Scientific Representational Competence[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Education, 2026, 47(17): 101-108.
