kylecui/petfish.ai/course-lab-design

Purpose

Design hands-on labs that are teachable, executable, and reviewable.

Lab design model

Each lab should explicitly define:

1. objective
2. prerequisites
3. environment
4. inputs/files/tools
5. procedure
6. expected result
7. validation method
8. troubleshooting
9. instructor answer/reference path

Review checks

• Can a learner realistically complete it in the allocated time?
• Are setup steps isolated from learning steps?
• Is success observable?
• Are common failure modes covered?
• Is the answer key separated from the learner guide?

Output split

Prefer two linked artifacts:

• learner lab guide
• instructor answer key/reference notes

Gotchas

• Do not turn environment setup into the main learning burden unless that is intentional.
• Do not define a lab objective that cannot be validated.
• Do not hide required files, credentials, or dependencies.
• Do not mix official answers into learner-facing instructions.

See:

• assets/lab-template.md
• references/lab-review-checklist.md
• references/interactive-artifacts.md