TITLE: Didactic Aspects of Concept Mapping in Lower Secondary Education AUTHOR: Mgr. Petra Vaňková DEPARTMENT: Department of Information Technology and Technical Education SUPERVISOR: doc. PhDr. Vladimír Rambousek, CSc. ABSTRACT: This dissertation aims to examine the educational potential of concept maps in elementary schools and contribute to the expansion of pedagogic theory in the area of didactic resources, as well as develop a constructively oriented method of education. This work defines concept maps as didactic tools; describes them in terms of functional and didactic specifics; analyzes their theoretical results from psychological and pedagogical perspectives; and describes their potential usage in the educational process. This dissertation further focuses on the determinants that influence concept map implementation in teaching, analyzes potential assessment methods, and demonstrates several approaches for utilizing ICT to support work involving concept maps. Empirical research results are used to illuminate the didactic potential of concept maps and methods to incorporate them in teaching. This work represents a comprehensive study overview of concept maps that examines the topic from various angles and directions as they pertain to education. KEYWORDS: concept map, education, didactic tool,...