Systematic Literature Review: Mathematical Representation Ability of Junior High School Students Based on Learning Materials

Mathematical representation ability is an important component of mathematics learning because students need to express, interpret, and connect mathematical ideas in different forms when understanding concepts and solving problems. At the junior high school level, representation is commonly examined through visual, symbolic, and verbal forms. Previous studies have examined this ability from different perspectives, including learning models, learning styles, and types of representation. However, the distribution of studies according to the mathematics learning materials investigated has not been clearly mapped. This study aims to systematically review research on the mathematical representation ability of junior high school students based on the mathematics learning materials studied. The study used a Systematic Literature Review approach by searching Google Scholar Indonesian keyword “kemampuan representasi matematis siswa SMP” and limiting the publication period to 2016–2026. Relevant articles were identified, selected, recorded in Microsoft Excel, grouped according to learning material, and analyzed descriptively to determine the distribution of research. The review identified 36 articles covering 18 mathematics learning materials. SPLDV was the most frequently studied material with six articles, followed by statistics with four articles, while relations and functions and circles each had three articles. Several materials were represented by only one article. These findings indicate that research on mathematical representation ability at the junior high school level has covered diverse materials, but the distribution remains uneven. The mapping provides a basis for identifying materials that have received relatively limited research attention and for planning further studies.