Plenary Lecture:

Constructing Knowledge in Graph Theory and
Combinatorial Optimization

Associate Professor Eva Milkova
Department of Informatics and Quantitative Methods
University of Hradec Kralove
Rokitanskeho 62
Czech Republic
E-mail: eva.milkova@uhk.cz

Abstract: Graph Theory and Combinatorial Optimization are powerful tools for teachers allowing them to develop logical thinking of students, increasing their imagination and meeting them familiar with solving various practical problems. The paper offers some ideas how to make the education of these branches of applied mathematics and computer science attractive for students. The approach used for teaching and learning these subjects can serve as an inspiration for education of other subjects as well.
The areas described in detail will be:
-Puzzles as a useful motivation
-Teaching in contexts
-Demonstration and visualization of the particular issue
-Intensification of students' self-preparation

Brief Biography of the Speaker:
She was born in 1954 in Nymburk, Czech Republic. In 1978 finished her studies of numerical mathematics at Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics. Gradually received the following titles - master degree RNDr., doctoral degree Ph.D. and associate professorship.
Eva Milkova has taken part at several study visits at the universities in EU countries and at a lot of international conferences. Her publication activity includes more than 30 contributions at international conferences and journals and more than 80 contributions at Czech and Slovak conferences and journals. The survey of her publications is on http://lide.uhk.cz/fim/ucitel/milkoev1/. She has been invited as an invited speaker to several conferences as well and she has been in several scientific program committees of international conferences. In summer 2007 she was chair of the ICTMT8 (the 8th International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching – www.ICTMT8.org) at the University of Hradec Kralove. She is a member of editorial board of international journals and guest editor of several special issues in international journals.
She is a member of two scientific counsels for doctoral studies (Faculty of Philosophy, UP Olomouc and Faculty of Education, UHK Hradec Kralove). Her scientific interests include Graph Theory, Graph Algorithms, ICT in education.