From Teaching Machines to Electronic Devices

In the early 1950s, Harvard psychologist and new father B. F. Skinner turned his attention to arithmetic teaching. He argued that such instruction could be carried out by machine, and designed apparatus for that purpose. With the advent of inexpensive electronic equipment, a variety of other instruments were put to use in arithmetic instruction.

In the years following World War II, American school enrollments boomed. One parent, the psychologist and Harvard University faculty member B. F. Skinner, noted that students might benefit from machines that gave extra opportunities for drill.
Description
In the years following World War II, American school enrollments boomed. One parent, the psychologist and Harvard University faculty member B. F. Skinner, noted that students might benefit from machines that gave extra opportunities for drill. Skinner designed this instrument to teach elementary arithmetic.
The wooden box has a black plastic knob in front. The hinged lid extends over the middle of the top, and covers a punched paper tape. A window in this lid reveals one problem at a time. In front of the window is a set of six levers that allows one to set a number in a hole, to answer a question.
A mark on the lid of the machine reads: TEACHING MACHINE EXHIBITED IN MARCH, 1954 (/) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH [/] CONFERENCE ON “PSYCHOLOGY AND THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES”.
Compare to other Skinner teaching machines, 1984.1069.01 and MA.335539.
Reference:
Alexander Rutherford, Beyond the Box: B. F. Skinner’s Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life, 1950s–1970s, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009, esp. pp. 26-33.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1954
maker
Skinner, B. F.
ID Number
1981.0997.01
accession number
1981.0997
catalog number
1981.0997.01
During the late 1950s and 1960s, American scientists and educators proposed using machines for instruction. Teaching machines and related programmed textbooks used a careful sequence of questions for teaching. Jerome C. Meyer and later William R.
Description
During the late 1950s and 1960s, American scientists and educators proposed using machines for instruction. Teaching machines and related programmed textbooks used a careful sequence of questions for teaching. Jerome C. Meyer and later William R. Hafel, both of Sunnydale, California, believed that it would be more efficient to use randomly generated problems. Given a problem, a student entered the answer. A correct answer elicited a new problem. These ideas were incorporated in this teaching device, the Digitor.
The instrument, introduced by the California firm Centurion Industries in 1974, used an Intel microchip and boasted a space-age look. It taught basic arithmetic. More recently, electronic calculators have become common at more advanced levels of mathematics teaching.
Reference:
P. A. Kidwell, A. Ackerberg-Hastings, and D. L. Roberts, Tools of American Mathematics Teaching, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, pp. 259-260.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1975
maker
Centurion Industries Incorporated
ID Number
1986.0507.01
catalog number
1986.0507.01
accession number
1986.0507
Introduced in mid-1976, the Little Professor is a non-printing electronic calculator modified to present simple arithmetic problems. A correct answer prompts another problem on the eight-digit display.
Description
Introduced in mid-1976, the Little Professor is a non-printing electronic calculator modified to present simple arithmetic problems. A correct answer prompts another problem on the eight-digit display. An error delivers the message, "EEE." The colorful keyboard shows a professor with whiskers and glasses. The red light-emitting diode screen, in combination with the top of the instrument, looks like a mortar board.
This example has buttons that allow one to set the level of problems, as well as an on/off button on the front rather than the side of the machine. These features were introduced in a version of the machine made from 1978 onward.
Reference:
P. A. Kidwell, A. Ackerberg-Hastings, and D. L. Roberts, Tools of American Mathematics Teaching, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, pp. 261–262.
date made
ca 1978
maker
Texas Instruments
ID Number
1986.0988.197
accession number
1986.0988
catalog number
1986.0988.197
The Flashmaster, introduced in 2002 for both school and home use, was designed to be an electronic alternative to flash cards in arithmetic teaching.
Description
The Flashmaster, introduced in 2002 for both school and home use, was designed to be an electronic alternative to flash cards in arithmetic teaching. It not only gave examples to be solved, but allowed for timed tests and tracked student performance.
The lightweight instrument has a gray plastic case. One selects the learning activity desired by pressing one of the six yellow buttons near the top. Three white buttons allow one to choose the time limit, the arithmetic operation, and the level of the activity. The time and the level, along with the problem to be solved, appear on the screen below. Students enter answers by pressing the digit buttons across the bottom.
According to the cardboard box, the instrument was "DESIGNED, DEVELOPED & MANUFACTURED FOR FLASHMASTER LLC (/) BY ACCENT ENTINEERING (LUBBOCK, TEXAS) and TRONICBROS. (HONG KONG)." Flashmaster LLC has an address in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2002
maker
Resor, Charles Pillsbury
ID Number
2003.0046.01
catalog number
2003.0046.01
accession number
2003.0046

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