Abstract: This paper reports on the performance of 104 Grade 8 Singapore students in pattern generalising tasks to determine the success rates, the rules formulated and the ways the rules were represented. A written test comprising four linear figural generalising tasks was used and the students had to answer all the four tasks in 45 min. About 70% of the students were successful in rule construction in each task, producing a variety of functional rules expressed prevalently in symbolic notations. Suggestions for practice based on these findings are suggested.

Key words: pattern generalisation, linear generalising task, Singapore secondary school students