Goals are broad statements indicating what students will be prepared to do after the course. Unlike outcomes, which are very specific and measurable, goals are very general. Goals are typically described in vague terms such as “know” or “understand.”

Examples:

• Comprehend essential Chinese language material about daily life –> This is a goal because it is very broad and cannot be measured.
• Introduce themselves (name and occupation) in a professional context –> This is an outcome because it is specific contextualized, and measurable.

Consider the following analogy I created to compare goals to outcomes and place them in the context of instructional alignment.