Data Literacy Through Digital Inquiry: A Visual Framework for Teaching Trade Policy (Ecuador, 1979–2024)

International trade policy constitutes a challenging subject for undergraduate students, as it requires the integration of historical, institutional, and quantitative perspectives. This study presents a digital learning framework designed to support the teaching of Ecuador’s trade policy trajectory between 1979 and 2024 through the use of open macroeconomic datasets, interactive visualizations, and guided data-analysis tasks. The framework combines historical interpretation with structured digital inquiry, allowing students to explore policy cycles, export composition, and institutional shifts using empirical evidence. A small-scale classroom implementation with economics and social science students (n = 48) indicates that the proposed approach supports students’ ability to recognize long-term economic trends and to relate policy decisions to broader development patterns. Rather than offering causal claims, the study provides exploratory evidence of how data-driven digital environments can enhance analytical engagement in policy-oriented courses. The framework is intended as a transferable pedagogical model for contexts where economic history, public policy, and digital learning intersect.