Integration of ict in the teaching of unit operations: diagnosis with Pareto, Ishikawa, and Histograms under the DigCompEdu framework
Keywords:
Unit Operations; ICT integration; DigCompEdu; quality control; teacher digital competence; Chemical Engineering; engineering education; process simulators.Abstract
The shift toward digitally intensive engineering education poses unprecedented challenges in high-density conceptual subjects such as Unit Operations (UO). In Latin American higher education contexts, the effective incorporation of information and communication technologies (ICT) into these curricular spaces is hindered by structural constraints that go beyond individual teacher initiative. This paper proposes and validates a diagnostic methodology that combines three statistical process control instruments—Pareto Diagram, Ishikawa Diagram, and Frequency Histograms—with the European DigCompEdu digital competence framework for educators, with the aim of systematically evaluating the barriers that limit ICT integration in UO instruction across Chemical Engineering programs. The methodology is applied to empirical evidence drawn from a systematic literature review (2018-2024, n = 48 primary studies) and a multi-site case study conducted in five accredited Chemical Engineering programs in Ecuadorian higher education institutions (n = 112 teachers, n = 843 students). Pareto analysis reveals that four deficiency categories concentrate 78.6% of total non-conformities: absence of specialized simulator licenses (24.2%), critically obsolete computing equipment (21.7%), insufficient teacher pedagogical digital competence (19.2%), and lack of ICT methodology integrated into the syllabus (13.5%). The Ishikawa model identifies the absence of an institutional ICT policy as a transversal second-order root cause. Histograms show that 61.6% of UO teachers are at DigCompEdu levels A1-A2 (mean = 2.4/6.0), with a moderate-high positive correlation with student academic performance (r = 0.58, p < 0.01). Implications for curriculum design, continuous teacher professional development, and technology policy management in regional Chemical Engineering programs are discussed.
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