NIST e-Handbook
NIST e-Handbook ch. 5.1-5.3 — itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook (45 min)
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
WEEK 25 · Mon 08 Mar → Sun 14 Mar 2027
UNDERSTAND · PRACTICE · KEEP EVIDENCE
Read the week in plain language, refresh the foundations, follow each challenge step by step, and check what evidence to keep. Includes worked examples, answer keys and prompts for visual study resources.
Use this within your existing weekly blocks. Your learning completion and research evidence remain in your current tracker and week files.
START HERE · 2 MINUTES
STATUS
| Deliverable | Acceptance | State |
|---|---|---|
field-mapping-evaluation.csvBuild |
Select versioned public field datasets and map ten target formats into plot/block/treatment/replicate/date/variable schema with unit checks. Acceptance: Generate one design-correct field-trial report end to end and prepare the trialkit release package. | |
field-analysis-report.mdBuild create + |
Implement one supported trial design first and estimate treatment effects with intervals; add design-aware mixed models and diagnostics. Acceptance: Replicates, random effects and design assumptions are explicit; unsupported designs fail clearly. | |
trialkit-release-checklist.mdBuild create + |
Prepare bilingual HTML/report examples, fake-data reproduction, trialkit v0.1 and Z5 materials. Acceptance: A clean run produces the report and release metadata is ready. | |
study-notes.mdLearning create + |
Selected exact free resources; bounded lesson/exercise; separate solution; quiz and grading rubric; Peter's answers and gaps when executed | |
founder-paper.mdFounder papers create + |
Verified source and P11 digest; authentic question and connection sentence; access limitations | |
branding-pack.mdBranding create + |
Wednesday note, Sunday build log, X adaptation, figure/caption/alt text and the week's special asset; each claim linked to real proof | |
opportunity-actions.mdOpportunities create + |
Qualified target/role, source/date, ladder stage, next action, message/interview/proposal draft and actual status | |
evidence.mdEvidence & review open & edit ↗ |
Actual paths/URLs, versions, checks/metrics, preparation versus execution state and external receipts when applicable | |
review.mdEvidence & review open & edit ↗ |
Checklist, learning assessment, gate status, shortfalls, next actions and carryover |
These filenames are outputs to prepare during this week's execution; this scaffold does not claim they already exist. Drafts and measured results have different states. Technical code/data stay in the canonical project repository and are referenced from these coordinating files.
During preparation, future measured tables get column definitions, input requirements and run instructions with PENDING status. During execution, replace pending values only with measured outputs. Do not create realistic-looking fake evidence.
600 MINUTES MAXIMUM
Target. Select versioned public field datasets and map ten target formats into plot/block/treatment/replicate/date/variable schema with unit checks. Stop when: Generate one design-correct field-trial report end to end and prepare the trialkit release package.
No material for Monday — this is a pure build day. Need something to study instead? →
Target. NIST handbook chapter 5 sections on randomized blocks/design and statsmodels MixedLM examples; draw one dataset's actual design. Produce: One concise applied note, a worked decision/example and unresolved questions.
Do these in this order — the plan's own sequence:
Target. Implement one supported trial design first and estimate treatment effects with intervals; add design-aware mixed models and diagnostics. Stop when: Replicates, random effects and design assumptions are explicit; unsupported designs fail clearly. Reserve the last 10 minutes for the optional Wednesday note.
No material for Wednesday — this is a pure build day. Need something to study instead? →
Target. Apply mapping-evaluation and mixed-model diagnostics to one field trial; inspect unit and replication errors. Last 30 minutes: founder field-trial paper. Apply the Half 2 one-formal-study-block rule.
No material for Thursday — this is a pure build day. Need something to study instead? →
Target. Prepare bilingual HTML/report examples, fake-data reproduction, trialkit v0.1 and Z5 materials. Stop when: A clean run produces the report and release metadata is ready.
No material for Friday — this is a pure build day. Need something to study instead? →
Target. Resolve the earliest critical spillover or dependency. Prepare any long-form publication draft from existing figures here if needed. Sandbox only after commitments are met.
Optional, only if the day went well:
Target. 20 min build-log draft/publication when authorized; 5 min evidence/checklist; 20 min source-grounded gap review; 15 min next week's six physical actions.
No material for Sunday — this is a pure build day. Need something to study instead? →
Spare pockets, repo exercises and anything the plan lists without a day. Take them in this order when a day finishes early.
The model must turn these into exact physical actions using the observed files and available inputs. Each 90-minute block includes start/stop rituals. All calls, posts, debugging, reading and exercises consume this same capacity.
Half 2: Tuesday is the formal study block unless this is a selling/submission/decision week. Thursday supports applied review, partner work or the market task; do not add another full course.
WHAT TO WATCH, READ AND RUN
Picture an agronomist with 40 spreadsheets from three seasons of field trials, each formatted by a different intern, and an investor asking "does your biological product actually increase yield, and by how much?". The honest answer requires a design (which plots got which treatment, in which block), a statistical model that respects that design, and an interval. Most startups answer with an average and a hopeful cha…
0 of 12 finished · give me one to start now → · open in the deck →
In the plan's running order: each card says which block it belongs to and what has to come before it. The seven-day plan lists the same cards under the day that owns them.
NIST e-Handbook ch. 5.1-5.3 — itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook (45 min)
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
Tuesday · after NIST e-Handbook
Penn State STAT 503 Design of Experiments online notes, lesson on randomised complete block designs — online.stat.psu.edu/stat503 (30 min)
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
Saturday sandbox
Michael Clark, Mixed Models with R — m-clark.github.io/mixed-models-with-R (concepts transfer to Python)
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
Saturday sandbox · after Michael Clark, Mixed Models with R
Bambi documentation (bambinos.github.io/bambi), Bayesian mixed models in one formula
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
Saturday sandbox · after Bambi documentation
StatQuest on ANOVA and "Design matrices" (search in channel)
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
Saturday sandbox · after StatQuest on ANOVA and "Design matrices"
Coursera Practical Time Series Analysis — only if a client's trials are longitudinal
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
Piepho, Büchse & Emrich (2003), "A hitchhiker's guide to mixed models for randomized experiments", Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 189:310-322 (skim sections 1-3)
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
MixedLM example from the docs (random intercept per block); then fit one agridat trial
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
Same trial as a Bayesian mixed model; compare intervals with MixedLM
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
Pull 10 agridat CSVs by URL; this is your public data source
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
Spreadsheet header → schema mapping with a Pydantic model, as in FermLit
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
Read the "random intercepts" chapter for intuition
In: LABLOOP-W25 Notebook
READ FIRST
This week delivers the three concrete artifacts below and the supporting learning/branding/opportunity pack. The scientific or commercial outcome follows the preserved source brief, while the acceptance checks make its evidence testable. The career objective is to turn this work into something a scientist, hiring manager or buyer can inspect.
READ FIRST
Read v6 · Week 25 · Instrument 2 trialkit (field module) before Monday. It expands this week's one-row v5 brief into daily build steps and adds the Welcome analogy, Learn it (▶ core and + deeper sources), Run it (repos with a 20-40 minute exercise), the NotebookLM kit and the mentor check below. Standing v6 rules: resource rules, NotebookLM protocol, chapter anatomy. v6 adds depth only; it does not change a goal, gate, output or the 600-minute cap, so this specification still governs execution.
Act VI · Threads: M, $, R · Next gate: 28
Where this week sits. - ← From: week 7 (LLM mapping measured against a gold set), week 14 (multiple testing), v4 Part 5.2 (trialkit design). - → Feeds: week 26 (plate module), week 27 (the offer shows two instruments), week 29 (audit prototype on client data), archetype B companies in v4 Appendix A. - ⟳ Returns in: Loop Audits for field-trial companies; the Medium deep dive planned in v4.
Goals.
- 🎯 This week: trialkit/ingest (schema mapping with measured accuracy) and trialkit report (design detection, mixed model, intervals); trialkit v0.1 + Z5.
- 🏁 Next milestone: Gate 28 (first invoice).
- 🌟 Final: a second instrument that widens who can buy a Loop Audit.
The plan (from v5 Part 7, expanded; gate and output unchanged).
v5 row: 25 | Instrument 2 trialkit (field module) | NIST ch. 5 (DoE); statsmodels MixedLM |
trialkit/ingestandreport(v4 weeks 9-10 content) |trialkit v0.1, Z5 - Goal: from 10 heterogeneous published trial spreadsheets to one defensible report. - Tue (study): NIST/SEMATECH e-Handbook ch. 5.1-5.3 (DoE: randomised block designs, factorials); statsmodels MixedLM documentation. - Build: Mon: trial schema (plot, block, treatment, replicate, date, variable, unit); LLM mapping of 10agridattrials (via the Rdatasets mirror) with Claude vs local Qwen; mapping accuracy against 10 hand-mapped files. Done when the accuracy table prints. Wed: design detection (CRD, RCBD, split-plot) and MixedLM with treatment effects and intervals; bootstrap check. Done when a known published trial's effect is reproduced within its reported interval. Fri:trialkit report(HTML, Spanish and English); release v0.1 + Zenodo DOI. Done when the DOI badge renders. - Sun: L-Sun "10 field trials, 10 spreadsheet formats, one schema, one defensible number". Z5. - Only one thing: one published trial reproduced with an interval.
Mentor check. "I can take a messy field trial and say the treatment effect with an interval that respects the design."
OPEN WHEN NEEDED
READ FIRST
Material: NIST handbook chapter 5 sections on randomized blocks/design and statsmodels MixedLM examples; draw one dataset's actual design.
Produce: One concise applied note, a worked decision/example and unresolved questions.
Understanding check: The note directly supports this week's experiment, collaboration, delivery or career action.
During preparation, write one worked example connected to the week's actual task, one exercise with a separate answer key and five questions. Peter supplies answers; score explanation quality and flag misconceptions in QUESTIONS. Numeric/scientific conclusions require actual data or explicitly synthetic teaching values.
Material: Apply mapping-evaluation and mixed-model diagnostics to one field trial; inspect unit and replication errors. Last 30 minutes: founder field-trial paper.
Produce: One concise applied note, a worked decision/example and unresolved questions.
Understanding check: The note directly supports this week's experiment, collaboration, delivery or career action.
Use the prompt pack: P1 explanation ladder, P2 concept-to-project bridge and P3 quiz. Coding practice belongs within the allocated study/build block. Where the source asks for a favorable scientific result, substitute an honest measured comparison as explained below.
Select one verified founder/scientific-lead paper relevant to this week's domain. Use P11; save the question, method, numerical result with context, data workflow, three author questions and one connection sentence in founder-paper.md. Keep abstract-only access limitations explicit. On source weeks with no study, prioritize the commercial/submission task and log any skipped digest.
OPEN WHEN NEEDED
Branding: Draft a field-trial decision example showing an effect size and uncertainty, with a 60-second demo script.
Opportunity action: Prepare one feedback ask to a field-trial scientist and one employer evidence update; keep Paper 3 lab progress in the tracker.
Use career asset contracts. Publish at most the agreed cadence; one figure and one supported number or admitted failure can support multiple drafts. In long-form weeks, prepare a 1,500–2,500-word article from existing evidence within the build/buffer allocation. In release/demo weeks, prepare a 60-second script: problem, input, command/action, result, limitation and proof link.
Verify individuals, jobs and affiliations at execution time. The GridX list and v4 company map are research seeds, not current facts. Do not reveal named company weaknesses or employer/client confidential information. Keep drafted/sent/replied/booked/held statuses separate. The planning request alone does not authorize external messages or publication; honor explicit authorization in the execution session.
OPEN WHEN NEEDED
Two old v4 weeks are compressed here. Prioritize one valid design end-to-end; record any unmet ten-format target and defer image scoring to the parking lot.
Apply the root scientific evidence contract: provenance; meaningful independent splits; no future-data leakage; baseline comparison; actual denominators/uncertainty; failed cases; human review where required. State whether data are simulated, public experimental, synthetic or partner-provided.
Keep source gates intact, and log scope/time conflicts in review. Missing people, money, access or results must not be replaced with invented evidence. Reduce optional polish first. A specific essential external dependency stays pending while independent preparation continues.
READ FIRST
This is an enabling week. Its deliverables feed the next scheduled gate: 28. Complete the acceptance checklist below; do not promote reputation from a draft.
READ FIRST
Expanded minimum derived from the source goal: Generate one design-correct field-trial report end to end and prepare the trialkit release package.
Operational first step if stalled: open field-mapping-evaluation.csv, write the required inputs and produce the smallest checkable example in ten minutes. If a more urgent missing gate dependency controls the week, use the source minimum above.
If the full week does not fit, use P14: retain one gate-critical deliverable and one directly supporting study exercise; record what is skipped versus moved. Do not mark the original full gate passed merely because the minimum was completed. After a missed week, reforecast from actual evidence and avoid a second unexamined lost week.
OPEN WHEN NEEDED
In review, state exactly what exists, what was verified, what Peter can now explain, which external events remain pending, where the canonical code/data live, and the next file/function or draft paragraph to touch. Link each fact to evidence. Carry scientific assumptions, split definitions and rights constraints forward explicitly.
OPEN WHEN NEEDED
Prepare Week 25 of this LABLOOP execution plan.
Read execution-plan/specs.md, execution-plan/DECISIONS.md,
execution-plan/GATES.md and
execution-plan/weeks/week-25-trialkit-field-module/specs.md, commitment.md, evidence.md and review.md.
Read prior prerequisite reviews and inspect actual repository/data state.
Use v5 as the governing sequence, the v6 Week 25 chapter
(LABLOOP-Master-Plan-v6.md) as the deeper walkthrough, and v4 only for
retained details.
Produce the full local preparation pack and the exact week-specific files named
in the artifact table. Give me a bounded lesson with exercises/answer key,
daily physical actions, technical runbook or draft, branding drafts and
career/commercial actions. Keep the total to 600 minutes.
Separate prepared artifacts from measured results and my learning completion.
Verify sources and do not invent metrics, citations, papers, people or outcomes.
Do not execute external communications, publication or spending unless the
current session already authorizes the specific action.
Finish by updating evidence/review and TODAY with the next physical action.
OPEN WHEN NEEDED
v6 expands this row into a full brief, with the gate and output unchanged, inside v6 · Week 25 · Instrument 2 trialkit (field module). The following is source planning text, not a claim of completion. Apply the explicit evidence corrections in this specification and DECISIONS.md.
| Week | Goal | Study (Tue) | Build (Mon/Wed/Fri) | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Instrument 2 trialkit (field module) | NIST ch. 5 (DoE); statsmodels MixedLM | trialkit/ingest and report (v4 weeks 9-10 content) |
trialkit v0.1, Z5 |
WEEK FILES
State: UNCONFIRMED. Owner: Peter Ciancaglini. Specification
Start date: not set. End date: not set. Available hours: confirm (planned ceiling 10). Primary outcome: trialkit field module. Minimum that keeps the next gate alive: Generate one design-correct field-trial report end to end and prepare the trialkit release package.
field-mapping-evaluation.csv: Generate one design-correct field-trial report end to end and prepare the trialkit release package.field-analysis-report.md: Replicates, random effects and design assumptions are explicit; unsupported designs fail clearly.trialkit-release-checklist.md: A clean run produces the report and release metadata is ready.| Day | Minutes | Physical action / outcome | Actual slot | Done |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 90 | Select versioned public field datasets and map ten target formats into plot/block/treatment/replicate/date/variable schema with unit checks. | Not set | ☐ |
| Tue | 90 | One concise applied note, a worked decision/example and unresolved questions. | Not set | ☐ |
| Wed | 90 | Implement one supported trial design first and estimate treatment effects with intervals; add design-aware mixed models and diagnostics. Last ten minutes: optional note. | Not set | ☐ |
| Thu | 90 | One concise applied note, a worked decision/example and unresolved questions. Include relevant founder-paper work within this block. | Not set | ☐ |
| Fri | 90 | Prepare bilingual HTML/report examples, fake-data reproduction, trialkit v0.1 and Z5 materials. | Not set | ☐ |
| Sat | 90 | Resolve critical spillover; long-form draft if due; sandbox only if done. | Not set | ☐ |
| Sun | 60 | Build log, evidence, gap review, next actions. | Not set | ☐ |
Peter's commitment / adjustments: pending. Reviewing model and date: pending.
Execution state: NOT_STARTED. Specification This file is a blank register with planned artifact names; none of the rows prove completion.
| Item | Path / URL / version | State | Verification / actual result | Verified by / date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| field-mapping-evaluation.csv | Not created | NOT_STARTED | Pending: Mapping has reference labels, failure cases and measured accuracy. | — |
| field-analysis-report.md | Not created | NOT_STARTED | Pending: Replicates, random effects and design assumptions are explicit; unsupported designs fail clearly. | — |
| trialkit-release-checklist.md | Not created | NOT_STARTED | Pending: A clean run produces the report and release metadata is ready. | — |
| Learning exercise / Peter's quiz | Not created | NOT_STARTED | Peter's actual answers required | — |
| Founder paper digest | Not created | NOT_STARTED | Source/content and access checked | — |
| Branding pack | Not created | NOT_STARTED | Claims audited; drafted/public status distinct | — |
| Opportunity actions | Not created | NOT_STARTED | Drafted/sent/replied/booked/held distinct | — |
| Question / metric | Dataset, N and unit | Split / seed / config | Command or verification method | Output path and measured value | Uncertainty / limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Action / counterpart | Receipt or private reference | State | Next action / date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Peter's teach-back / quiz score: not assessed. Scientific assumptions and deviations: none recorded yet. Budget allocated / spent: not assessed / no spend recorded. Missing evidence and responsible owner: pending inspection.
Do not put API keys, source full texts with restricted rights, client data or invoice personal details in a public version of this register. Keep private evidence references private.
Review status: NOT_REVIEWED. Specification · Evidence
What Peter can explain or reproduce now: not assessed. Quiz / teach-back gaps: not assessed. Measured result and limitations: pending. Best evidence link for a scientist/recruiter/buyer: pending. What failed or changed, and why: pending.
Gate requirement: No standalone gate; check this week's acceptance criteria and next gate dependencies. Gate status: NOT_STARTED. Original target week: See next gate in specs. Actual completion date / forecast: not set. Missing external evidence: pending inspection. Blocks completed / 7: not recorded. Days with commits / 7: not recorded. Sunday build log / optional Wednesday note: not recorded. Founder conversations cumulative: not recorded. Earned evidence level and proof: not assessed. Consecutive lost weeks: not assessed.
Week-specific risk to revisit: Two old v4 weeks are compressed here. Prioritize one valid design end-to-end; record any unmet ten-format target and defer image scoring to the parking lot.
Continue / recover / blocked: not decided. Retain as the minimum: Generate one design-correct field-trial report end to end and prepare the trialkit release package. Skipped permanently with reason: none recorded. Carryover with owner, dependency and target week: none recorded. Canonical repository paths and versions: pending. Data permissions, split definitions or assumptions to preserve: pending. External action authorization that still applies: not assessed. Next physical action, exact file/function/paragraph: pending. Updates to root PROGRESS / LOG / TODAY completed: ☐
YOUR SPACE