THE DBQ EXAMPLE
DEFINITION OF DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTIONS (DBQ)
Document-based questions are designed to enable students to work like historians, analyzing and synthesizing information from a variety of sources and
media. Students are evaluated on their ability to interpret such factors as purpose, source, bias, date and place of origin, tone, etc.
The essay does not necessarily require that a student be familiar with the event or topic that is being presented. Although it is admissible and even recommended that students include background and supporting knowledge in writing the essay, in some document-based exams, students can respond adequately using only the data provided.
To receive a satisfactory score in document-based essays, students must establish and prove a thesis through the accurate use of the documents. They must also consider the evidence presented in each of the individual documents, as well as establish the connections and relationships among them.
(Adapted from The College Board)
WHAT DO STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW AND BE ABLE TO DO TO RESPOND TO DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTIONS?
· Define or articulate a thesis or controlling idea
· Develop an argument using documents
· Support an argument using own background knowledge
· Articulate counter-arguments and positions
· Develop a fair-minded and balanced approach to a
question
· Articulate a closing statement that ties all arguments
· Weigh and consider the validity of different
sources/documents
· identify the range of positions to consider (ideally
more than two perspectives)
· Synthesize information
· Identify bias in documents
· Weave texts and ideas from documents to support
different arguments
DESIGN STEPS
1. Determine the purpose of your document-based question.
· What do you want students to demonstrate that they
know, are able to do, and value?
· Will you be using this question as a diagnostic
assessment?
· Will you be using this question as a summative
assessment?
2. Determine the general content focus that will be
assessed.
3. Formulate a tentative essay question.
4. Formulate a tentative context statement or historical
background paragraph for your question.
5. Select/prepare possible documents (if you are using the
format used by New York State).
· Choose a variety of documents including: graphs,
charts, maps, cartoons, photographs, non-fiction and
fictional texts.
· Choose documents that represent at least three
different viewpoints.
· Choose texts that are appropriate to the reading
levels of your students.
· Choose texts that are not unnecessarily long.
· Choose texts and graphics that are clear and easy to
read.
· Choose an appropriate number of documents for the time
and complexity of the question (probably no less than
4 and no more than 10)
· Plan to allow at least 10-15 minutes for the review of
the documents before students have to write the essay.
You could have students preview the documents as a
homework assignment.
6. Revise your tentative essay question to tit more tightly
with the document you have prepared.
7. Determine the standards for students' performance. Decide what you wish to assess (i.e., critical thinking, perspective awareness, use of sources,
organization, writing, etc.
8. Develop your own rubric for the document-based question/task. It would be best to make this rubric a task-specific rubric that addresses the overall content of your essay question. You could use this rubric to grade them or to teach students about document-based questions and guide the development of a student-developed rubric.
9. Sequence your documents.
10. Prepare the "scaffolded" short answer question(s) for each document. The purpose of these questions is to help students "unpack" each document and use it to respond to the overall essay question.
11. Prepare the final edited version of the entire question.
12. Field-test the question with a few students before using it with your entire
class.
13. Revise the entire task after you have used it with students based on their feedback.
POSSIBLE SCAFFOLDING QUESTIONS FOR DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS
Photograph
· What are its physical characteristics?
· What was the photographer trying to capture?
· What choices are self-evident?
· What is the most salient image?
· What is the least salient image?
· What mood does the photograph communicate?
· Is this an effective piece of work? Why or why not?
Song/Poem
· Who was this written for?
· What is the central message?
· What is the mood that it conveys?
· Could it have been used as propaganda?
· Does the wording have any symbolic or hidden meaning?
Document
· What kind of document is this?
· Where was it written?
By whom?
· For whom?
· What is its purpose?
· Is there an apparent bias?
· What is its central message?
Artifact
· What is it made of?
· How was it done?
· How old is it?
· What was/is used for?
· Who would use it?
· What is its value?
· What does it show about its creator/user?
· What does it look like that we have today?
Map
· When was it done?
· By whom?
· What kind of map is it?
· What key symbols does it use?
· What ·does it reveal?
· Why was it drawn?
· How does it help you understand more about a place,
region, area?
Poster
· What is its purpose?
· Who produced it?
· Who is the intended audience?
· What symbols does it use?
· Does it rely primarily on verbal or visual messages?
· What does the author hope the audience will do?
· Is it persuasive? Why or why not?
Oral history
· Who was interviewed? Why?
· What makes this person noteworthy?
· What are the key points of the interview?
· What does the interview reveal about the historical
period?
· What person during the same period could provide a
different perspective?
Cartoon
· Who drew it?
· What are the primary objects and characters'
· What does each object and character represent?
· What issue(s) does it address?
· What makes it persuasive?
· Who is the intended audience?
· What is the intended purpose?
· What does the cartoonist believe?
· Who would disagree with this message? Why?
All sources
· Who wrote or created the document?
· Was the author a direct witness of the event?
· What makes the author credible? Reliable?
· What is the point of view, perspective, or bias of the
author?
· How would we test the authenticity of the document?
QUESTIONS THAT SUPPORT CRITICAL THINKING
To prepare students to explore and discuss multiple perspectives, teachers could use questions such as the following ones:
Questions about the question
How can we find out?
Would______put the question differently?
Is the question clear?
Do we understand it?
Does this question ask us to evaluate something?
Can we break this question down at all?
Why is this question important?
Do we need facts to answer that?
Questions that seek clarification
What do you mean by...?
Could you explain that further?
Could you give me an example?
What is your main point?
Why do you say that?
Would you say more about that?
How does_____relate to_____?
Could you put that another way?
Questions that probe assumptions
What are you assuming?
What could we assume instead?
Is this always the case?
Why do you think the assumptions holds here?
Why have you based your reasoning on_____rather than_____?
Questions that probe reasons, evidence, and causes?
What are your reasons for saying that?
What other reasons do we need to know?
What do you think the cause is?
Are those reasons adequate?
How could we go about finding if that is true?
How do you know?
What would convince you otherwise?
Is that good evidence for believing that?
Questions about viewpoints or perspectives
What would someone who disagrees say?
What is an alternative?
How could you answer the objection that_____?
Can/did someone else see it another way?
You seem to be approaching this issue from_____perspective. Why have you chosen this rather than_____perspective?
Questions that probe implications and consequences
When you say_____, are you implying?
If that happened, what else would happen as a result? Why? What effect would that have?
Would that necessarily happen or only probably happen?
Document-based questions are designed to enable students to work like historians, analyzing and synthesizing information from a variety of sources and
media. Students are evaluated on their ability to interpret such factors as purpose, source, bias, date and place of origin, tone, etc.
The essay does not necessarily require that a student be familiar with the event or topic that is being presented. Although it is admissible and even recommended that students include background and supporting knowledge in writing the essay, in some document-based exams, students can respond adequately using only the data provided.
To receive a satisfactory score in document-based essays, students must establish and prove a thesis through the accurate use of the documents. They must also consider the evidence presented in each of the individual documents, as well as establish the connections and relationships among them.
(Adapted from The College Board)
WHAT DO STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW AND BE ABLE TO DO TO RESPOND TO DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTIONS?
· Define or articulate a thesis or controlling idea
· Develop an argument using documents
· Support an argument using own background knowledge
· Articulate counter-arguments and positions
· Develop a fair-minded and balanced approach to a
question
· Articulate a closing statement that ties all arguments
· Weigh and consider the validity of different
sources/documents
· identify the range of positions to consider (ideally
more than two perspectives)
· Synthesize information
· Identify bias in documents
· Weave texts and ideas from documents to support
different arguments
DESIGN STEPS
1. Determine the purpose of your document-based question.
· What do you want students to demonstrate that they
know, are able to do, and value?
· Will you be using this question as a diagnostic
assessment?
· Will you be using this question as a summative
assessment?
2. Determine the general content focus that will be
assessed.
3. Formulate a tentative essay question.
4. Formulate a tentative context statement or historical
background paragraph for your question.
5. Select/prepare possible documents (if you are using the
format used by New York State).
· Choose a variety of documents including: graphs,
charts, maps, cartoons, photographs, non-fiction and
fictional texts.
· Choose documents that represent at least three
different viewpoints.
· Choose texts that are appropriate to the reading
levels of your students.
· Choose texts that are not unnecessarily long.
· Choose texts and graphics that are clear and easy to
read.
· Choose an appropriate number of documents for the time
and complexity of the question (probably no less than
4 and no more than 10)
· Plan to allow at least 10-15 minutes for the review of
the documents before students have to write the essay.
You could have students preview the documents as a
homework assignment.
6. Revise your tentative essay question to tit more tightly
with the document you have prepared.
7. Determine the standards for students' performance. Decide what you wish to assess (i.e., critical thinking, perspective awareness, use of sources,
organization, writing, etc.
8. Develop your own rubric for the document-based question/task. It would be best to make this rubric a task-specific rubric that addresses the overall content of your essay question. You could use this rubric to grade them or to teach students about document-based questions and guide the development of a student-developed rubric.
9. Sequence your documents.
10. Prepare the "scaffolded" short answer question(s) for each document. The purpose of these questions is to help students "unpack" each document and use it to respond to the overall essay question.
11. Prepare the final edited version of the entire question.
12. Field-test the question with a few students before using it with your entire
class.
13. Revise the entire task after you have used it with students based on their feedback.
POSSIBLE SCAFFOLDING QUESTIONS FOR DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS
Photograph
· What are its physical characteristics?
· What was the photographer trying to capture?
· What choices are self-evident?
· What is the most salient image?
· What is the least salient image?
· What mood does the photograph communicate?
· Is this an effective piece of work? Why or why not?
Song/Poem
· Who was this written for?
· What is the central message?
· What is the mood that it conveys?
· Could it have been used as propaganda?
· Does the wording have any symbolic or hidden meaning?
Document
· What kind of document is this?
· Where was it written?
By whom?
· For whom?
· What is its purpose?
· Is there an apparent bias?
· What is its central message?
Artifact
· What is it made of?
· How was it done?
· How old is it?
· What was/is used for?
· Who would use it?
· What is its value?
· What does it show about its creator/user?
· What does it look like that we have today?
Map
· When was it done?
· By whom?
· What kind of map is it?
· What key symbols does it use?
· What ·does it reveal?
· Why was it drawn?
· How does it help you understand more about a place,
region, area?
Poster
· What is its purpose?
· Who produced it?
· Who is the intended audience?
· What symbols does it use?
· Does it rely primarily on verbal or visual messages?
· What does the author hope the audience will do?
· Is it persuasive? Why or why not?
Oral history
· Who was interviewed? Why?
· What makes this person noteworthy?
· What are the key points of the interview?
· What does the interview reveal about the historical
period?
· What person during the same period could provide a
different perspective?
Cartoon
· Who drew it?
· What are the primary objects and characters'
· What does each object and character represent?
· What issue(s) does it address?
· What makes it persuasive?
· Who is the intended audience?
· What is the intended purpose?
· What does the cartoonist believe?
· Who would disagree with this message? Why?
All sources
· Who wrote or created the document?
· Was the author a direct witness of the event?
· What makes the author credible? Reliable?
· What is the point of view, perspective, or bias of the
author?
· How would we test the authenticity of the document?
QUESTIONS THAT SUPPORT CRITICAL THINKING
To prepare students to explore and discuss multiple perspectives, teachers could use questions such as the following ones:
Questions about the question
How can we find out?
Would______put the question differently?
Is the question clear?
Do we understand it?
Does this question ask us to evaluate something?
Can we break this question down at all?
Why is this question important?
Do we need facts to answer that?
Questions that seek clarification
What do you mean by...?
Could you explain that further?
Could you give me an example?
What is your main point?
Why do you say that?
Would you say more about that?
How does_____relate to_____?
Could you put that another way?
Questions that probe assumptions
What are you assuming?
What could we assume instead?
Is this always the case?
Why do you think the assumptions holds here?
Why have you based your reasoning on_____rather than_____?
Questions that probe reasons, evidence, and causes?
What are your reasons for saying that?
What other reasons do we need to know?
What do you think the cause is?
Are those reasons adequate?
How could we go about finding if that is true?
How do you know?
What would convince you otherwise?
Is that good evidence for believing that?
Questions about viewpoints or perspectives
What would someone who disagrees say?
What is an alternative?
How could you answer the objection that_____?
Can/did someone else see it another way?
You seem to be approaching this issue from_____perspective. Why have you chosen this rather than_____perspective?
Questions that probe implications and consequences
When you say_____, are you implying?
If that happened, what else would happen as a result? Why? What effect would that have?
Would that necessarily happen or only probably happen?