Math Camp 2026

A native static teaching book for API 209 Math Camp 2026. The main website is HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The student-facing lesson decks are LaTeX Beamer PDFs. Quarto is used only for the optional student field notebook.

Published site

The public teaching book is published with GitHub Pages at:

https://harvard-api209.github.io/math-camp/

The repository contains no files from the previous Quarto website. It begins from the approved 2026 static-book design.

Preview the full site

From this directory:

python3 -m http.server 8080

Open http://localhost:8080.

Opening index.html directly also works for most pages, but a local server more closely matches deployment and makes iframe behavior easier to verify.

Run the student project

Students should download the complete repository, open math-camp-2026.Rproj, and begin with START-HERE.md. The first automated gate is:

Rscript code/check_setup.R --codex-confirmed

The project includes a complete common path (code/01-inspect.R through code/03-compare.R), an instructor-led Lesson 2 script at code/lesson-2-walkthrough.R, a safe public-data update script, four optional policy-track recipes, and a deliberately broken handoff clinic. Every analysis script starts from a saved file; none requires an object left in an R console.

Book architecture

• index.html: public student homepage, schedule, lesson index, policy tracks, and resource guide
• lessons/lesson-1/ and lessons/lesson-2/: the two student lessons in the current release, with explained code, bounded agent tasks, and embedded Beamer PDFs
• labs/lab-1/ and labs/lab-2/: the installation clinic and the 60-minute build-table lab in the current release; Lab 1 includes a printable LaTeX handout under handout/
• setup/, datasets/, ai-guide/, glossary/: student field guides
• instructor/: unlisted teaching notes and a detailed facilitation plan; noindex is not access control
• research/evidence-brief.md: research base and design rationale
• data/: frozen teaching data, documentation, and reproducible build script
• materials/math-camp-field-notebook.qmd: optional personal notebook
• examples/book-concept-v1/: exact archive of the approved visual prototype

Update a lesson deck

The current public decks use the shared files slides/beamer_preamble.tex, slides/beamer_style.sty, and slides/references.bib. Each lesson keeps its metadata in metadata.tex, its entry point in main.tex, and one LaTeX file per major section under sections/.

To edit and compile Lesson 1:

cd slides/lesson-1
latexmk -pdf main.tex
cp main.pdf lesson-1.pdf

Lesson 2 follows the same pattern:

cd slides/lesson-2
latexmk -pdf main.tex
cp main.pdf lesson-2.pdf

The website embeds lesson-1.pdf and lesson-2.pdf. Edit their English LaTeX sections directly. After each change, compile the deck, scan the log, and inspect every rendered slide before replacing the public PDF.

The current PDFs contain 63 pages for Lesson 1 and 73 pages for Lesson 2, including Lesson 2's progressive answer reveal and step-by-step source checks. Lesson 2 moves from a policy-briefing question to a clear plan for the table students need, introduces R grammar and data verbs in that context, demonstrates reshaping and join diagnostics, and ends with an independently verified build and the Lab 2 handoff. Later lesson materials remain internal drafts and are not part of the public release.

The Lab 1 handout is a standalone, single-file LaTeX article. Rebuild it with:

cd labs/lab-1/handout
latexmk -pdf main.tex
cp main.pdf lab-1-handout.pdf

Rebuild the default dataset (maintainers only)

The checked-in CSVs are frozen through 2022. The build refuses to overwrite them unless a maintainer explicitly opts in:

MATH_CAMP_WRITE_FROZEN=YES Rscript data/build_wdi.R

The script writes a wide file, a long file, and a full indicator dictionary after validating keys, years, schema, and metadata. Students extend one public indicator with code/04-update-indicator.R; it writes a dated file under data/updates/ and cannot overwrite the frozen baseline.

Instructor access

The instructor/ page includes noindex,nofollow, but a public static site cannot keep a known URL private. Protect that path through the hosting provider or exclude it from a public deployment if the notes must be confidential.

Design system

• Editorial, book-like structure inspired by technical manuals
• Self-hosted Departure Mono typeface
• Warm paper background, justified black serif prose, Harvard crimson chapter headings, and minimal rules
• Far-edge chapter contents on desktop and a larger right-side reading rail with section progress
• Restrained scroll reveals and canvas animation with reduced-motion support
• No dependency on a website framework