2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Integrating engineering into K-12 science classrooms is increasingly emphasized to enhance students’ engagement with scientific and mathematical concepts through real-world problem solving. Teachers play an important role in supporting students’ learning as they engage in engineering design. However, most research exploring teachers’ implementation of engineering design activities and their engineering discourse has been conducted in whole-classroom settings. Little is known about how teachers facilitate students’ engagement with epistemic practices of engineering (EPEs) during small-group work. This study investigates how a middle school teacher’s discursive moves influenced students’ engagement with EPEs within an integrated STEM unit. Using a qualitative case study approach, we analyzed teacher-student interactions over seven days as students engaged in brainstorming, planning, and testing design solutions. Data sources included video- and audio-recorded interactions and student artifacts. The findings revealed that while the teacher employed various discursive strategies—such as scaffolding, questioning, and providing scientific knowledge—there were missed opportunities to elicit student reasoning and address critical conceptual challenges. Notably, the teacher’s guidance did not always align with students’ emerging needs, limiting their ability to refine their designs. These findings highlight the need for professional development focused on responsive teaching strategies that foster deeper student engagement in engineering practices. This study contributes to the growing discourse on STEM education by identifying key pedagogical moves that can influence students’ engagement with epistemic practices of engineering during engineering design activities.