Many people use these words interchangeably; there is really very little difference between them. In everyday spoken English, the most common word is goal. Aim and objective are usually used in more formal writing.
One small difference is that an objective is more specific than a goal, for example:
- Aims are general statements that provide direction or intent to educational action.Aims may serve as organizing principles of educational direction for more than one grade.
- Our goal is to improve health care for children.Goals are statements of educational intention which are more specific than aims. Goals too may encompass an entire program, subject area, or multiple grade levels.
- Our objective is to provide 10,000 children with vaccines.specific.Objectives are usually specific statements of educational intention which delineate either general or specific outcomes
Objectives are similar to aims, although a bit more specific. Objectives require more analytical thinking when learning about something. It focuses on the skills of a topic, while an aim is just the basic understanding someone has to reach when learning a lesson.
