workspace-course-topics

Bellman revision and next steps (Class 09)

Prerequisites:

Completed the Bellman Stage Decomposition assignment (Class 08) and received feedback in class
Paper topic choice and REMARK repo setup — you have a REMARK repo (ballpark or HAFiscal-based) for your paper

Due: Before Class 09.

Revision

Revise your Class 08 assignment in light of feedback from the class discussion. Focus in particular on:
- How you construct and represent the stages and perches of the problem you are studying
- Consistency with the format of the various elements (stages, arrival/decision/continuation perches, connector) as in the SolvingMicroDSOPs notes
- Whatever was captured in the course summary and in the instructor’s comments on your document — refer back to the Class 08 summary and to any feedback you received on your draft or PR
Use the SolvingMicroDSOPs lecture notes (especially Section 13, “Modular Stage Architecture”) as the template for how to structure and present each element.
Use a high-quality AI to critique and improve your revision before you open or update your pull request. Prefer Claude Opus 4.6 (or the best available model) for this step.

When you ask the AI to help, explicitly reference the SolvingMicroDSOPs scheme. For example, you can use (or adapt) a prompt along these lines:

Help me craft a prompt that will induce an AI to critique, and propose improvements to, the attempt in [my PR] to construct a representation of the Bellman problem described in [the paper referenced in my ballpark project] using the scheme of stages and perches described in SolvingMicroDSOPs (especially Section 13, “Modular Stage Architecture”).

Then run the resulting critique prompt (or a direct request for critique and improvements) on your revised notebook, and incorporate the AI’s suggestions where they strengthen the clarity, consistency, or correctness of your stage/perch decomposition.
Post (or update) your pull request with the revised notebook and any short notes on changes you made in response to class feedback and to the AI critique.
Reference and MyST compatibility (all revised drafts). Every revised ballpark/REMARK draft you submit must include a proper reference to the paper you are working with. You must also confirm that the reference is formatted so that MyST can process it: if you (or someone else) converted your notebook to a MyST document, MyST would recognize the reference and resolve it against your bibliography. Check the MyST citation syntax and your .bib setup; fix any references that are plain text or incorrectly formatted so they are valid for MyST.

Workflow expectations (ongoing)

These apply from this point forward through the rest of the course:

Commit often with descriptive messages. Every meaningful change should be its own git commit. Use your AI assistant to draft detailed commit messages that explain what changed and why—not just “update files.”
Interact with your repo through AI or terminal. Use Cursor (or your preferred AI coding tool) as your primary interface for editing, running code, and troubleshooting. When you hit a problem, ask the AI before searching the web—it has your full project context.
Keep reproduce.sh working at all times. Re-run it after every substantive change. If you break it, fix it in the same commit.

Standalone LaTeX subfiles for figures and tables

Every figure and every table in your paper must have its own standalone .tex file (in Figures/ or Tables/) that compiles independently. This lets you edit and preview a single figure or table without recompiling the entire paper—saving significant time during revision. Follow the directory structure from the HAFiscal template: each figure directory contains a .tex file that can be compiled on its own with pdflatex.

Continue your REMARK project using the HAFiscal paper template and the workflow from the assignment in which that template was introduced.

Where this was introduced: Earlier in the course we did two related things:
1. Clone HAFiscal and confirm reproduction (first couple of classes). In the first couple of classes we cloned a REMARK-style repo (the HAFiscal repo) and confirmed that the reproduce.sh script worked to reproduce the paper’s results. The Class 01 summary and the Environment Setup unit describe the pattern: clone the repo, run ./reproduce.sh --env, then ./reproduce.sh docs main and ./reproduce.sh comp min for a quick sanity check. Use that same pattern when you set up your own REMARK from the HAFiscal template.
2. Template, clone-then-rename, and hollow out (Class 07 assignment). The Paper topic choice and REMARK repo setup assignment (due before Class 07) is where the HAFiscal template and the “clone then rename” workflow for your own project were set up.
Key steps to reuse:
- Create your repo from the template: Use GitHub’s “Use this template” button on HAFiscal-Public to create a new repo (do not fork and clone the repo; use the template so you get a clean copy).
- Clone then rename: After creating the repo from the template, clone it to your machine. Name the repo and the main .tex file according to your path:
  - New REMARK for an existing paper: Use the paper’s citekey (e.g. Lucas1978trees).
  - Your own new paper: Use your GitHub ID plus 606 (e.g. llorracc606).
- Confirm reproduction: Run ./reproduce.sh --env, then ./reproduce.sh docs main and ./reproduce.sh comp min (as in the first couple of classes) to confirm the repo builds and runs.
- Hollow out the content while keeping every section; replace the abstract with your own; leave at least one figure, one table, one equation, and one appendix as placeholders. See the full instructions in Paper topic choice and REMARK repo setup.

Use the Class 01 summary and the Paper topic choice assignment as the references for cloning, renaming, running reproduce.sh, and hollowing out the HAFiscal-based REMARK as you move forward with your project.

Deliverable

Revision: Revised {PAPER}_bellman-stages.ipynb (or equivalent) incorporating class feedback and AI critique, pushed to your REMARK repo and reflected in an updated (or new) pull request. Every revised draft must include a proper reference to the paper you are working with, formatted so that MyST would recognize it (e.g. using MyST citation syntax and your .bib file).
Next: Progress on your REMARK project (HAFiscal-based or ballpark) as appropriate; ensure your repo and main file names follow the naming rules above if you are just setting up from the template.