Texas Instruments Little Professor Teaching Calculator

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

Web Subject: MathematicsGames

Subject:

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Computers, Computers & Business Machines, Learning Arithmetic, Science & Mathematics, Arithmetic Teaching, Handheld Electronic Calculators

Exhibition: My Computing Device

Exhibition Location: National Museum of American History

Credit Line: Gift of John B. Priser

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 1986.0988.197Accession Number: 1986.0988Catalog Number: 1986.0988.197

Object Name: electronic calculatorOther Terms: electronic calculator; Handheld

Physical Description: plastic (overall material)Measurements: overall: 1 in x 3 1/2 in x 5 in; 2.54 cm x 8.89 cm x 12.7 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a1-3de1-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_334611

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