It is critical to have both broad instructional goals, at the course- or program-level, and specific learning objectives at the unit- or module-level, to help focus course development and improve the instructional product. The terms "goals" and "objectives" are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are different. According to Brown & Green (2006), an instructional goal is an overarching statement, and a learning objective is a narrowly-defined statement about how and to what degree instruction will affect the learner.

Example Course-level Goals

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

communicate about systems using mathematical, verbal and visual means.

choose appropriate models for a problem, using observed data and knowledge of the physical system.

explain and demonstrate the role that analysis and modeling play in engineering design and engineering applications.

Example of Course Goal and Learning Objective Alignment

Course Goal

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to communicate about systems using mathematical, verbal, and visual means.

Learning Objectives The following are a few of the many learning objectives that would support the course goal above.

Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:

draw a diagram of the system

identify the mathematical equations involved in the system

 calculate the mathematical equations involved in the system given needed parameters