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[mulerooster]

I was going to have my students anonymously answer a survey online to evaluate the class and my teaching.  This would just be for my own use, these mid-term evals would not be shared with anyone else at the school or in my department.  The students would complete final evals at the end of the semester that would be shared with the dept. chair and maybe other people at the school (I'm not sure of the policy exactly).

What types of questions would be good for this type of (mid-term) evaluation?

I was thinking along the lines of:
"What do you like about this course so far?"
"What do you dislike?"
"What would you change?  What would you like to see more of?"
"On a scale of 1-10, how challenging do you find the assignments?"
"On a scale of 1-10, how much effort does this class require (10 = too much effort & time, 1 = too easy, not much time).
Anything else I'm missing?

Do you think these types of questions will be well-received?  I just want to get a better feel for how the students view the course.  I may adjust the course accordingly for the remaining weeks if the responses are really skewed.  I also figured this would give me a chance to address any red flags before the real evaluations come at the end (the ones that the dept. chair would actually see). 

[sinenomine]

Asking how the student can improve his/her performance in class is also a useful question.

[pixelvainia]

There's such a thing as too many requests for feedback. Also, don't kowtow. OK, they're consumers, but also apprentices.

[scienceprof]

I wouldn't ask what they like and dislike, I would ask them what is or is not helping them learn the material.

[womanofproperty]

OP, this topic comes up every now & then on the in the classroom board. You can use the search function to find some of the earlier threads on this topic.

For instance:

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,42122.0.html

[finallydone]

When I do these, I usually ask the following:

1)  What do I do that help their learning?  (a version of what's working)
2)  In what ways could I help them to learn better? (what isn't working)

But I also ask them:
3) What are they are doing to help their learning? 
4) What they could do to improve their learning in class? 

It's important for them to recognize that learning is a two way street and not just about what you do for them.

[hobbit]

I've asked specifically for time spent reading the text, reviewing their notes, reading material on Blackboard, etc. This tells me about what they are doing to learn the material. It helps me decide what kind of materials to prepare for the course (paper or electronic) and how to deliver them (Blackboard, Facebook, old fashioned handouts) for maximum impact.

[seniorscholar]

By the way, the "Teaching and Learning Center" at my university (which has recently changed its name from the "Teaching Improvement Center": p.r. minds busy at work) offers midterm reviews to any grad student, adjunct, or faculty member who asks: an experienced grad student from an allied (but not the same) program, goes to the class, administers a standard questionnaire devised by the center, and has a conversation with them about the class. You are not anywhere in the vicinity. Grad student comes to your office a week or so later to give you the data and talk about what they said. Nothing is filed with the Center or with your department.

Though I realize online surveys are appealing and easy, having a paper survey administered by a stranger has this advantage: students can ask what a question means, which will avoid some of the blunders generated in online/no help situations. (If all students could be counted on to read and understand basic questions . . . grading quizzes would not be nearly so discouraging or amusing.)