brutal way is var_dump(). sure it breaks the layout.

You can assign the 'comment' to an instance variable

$this->Introspekt[] = 'Whats this';

and render it in your view like usual.

<? foreach ($Introspekt as $key=>$item) : ?>
    {key}: {item}
<? endforeach; ?>

You get the Logger with

Ak::getLogger()->message();

I'd just like to be able to confirm that expected values exist and that I am going where I expect to go.

=> I would do (unit) tests.