In this work, we explore the impact of learning goals on the individual student in a course and, to a lesser degree, on the instructors teaching the courses. We studied three courses in which instructors had detailed, course-specific learning goals that were integrated into their classes. To explore the general hypothesis that specific, course-level learning goals improved the student's interaction with the course, we looked specifically at the following questions: 1) Did students perceive learning goals as being valuable in the course? 2) What did students report about how they used learning goals and how was this different across several instructors and courses? 3) Did the instructors perceive the value of learning goals both for themselves and their students? As discussed in this article, our results indicate that explicit learning goals provide a valuable aid to guide students in their learning. These results give instructors a glimpse into how students use learning goals and suggest best practices for the use of learning goals.