Introducing the Pass Framework and Its Implementation in First-Year General Chemistry Higher Education

General chemistry higher education students who have the option of timely formative feedback loops when practicing homework questions is an essential element in supporting the development of understanding and applying key concepts in foundational chemistry. When students do not have access to an instructor, having an automated framework to guide their learning process can meet their needs in a personalized way. While open educational resources (OER) have provided the content and practice questions for general chemistry courses, how students apply the key concepts, contextualize the learning contexts, connect to foundational theory, and demonstrate their understanding had the potential to be explored in more detail. The development of the platform adapted/adaptable strategic solutions (PASS) framework is introduced as an example of a literature-based formative assessment approach that consistently presents comprehensive solutions to practice problems for students engaging with OER. This open framework can be used to help instructors develop general chemistry solutions for use in multiple digital platforms and to use more OER in their courses. The example solutions follow a scaffolded template designed to allow students to choose the level of support they need as they work through practice questions, which provides automated and equitable formative feedback and guidance for all self-directed and self-regulated students completing chemistry solutions independently.