What are course objectives?

Course objectives should describe what students should know at the end of the course.
Course objectives are broad. You may only have 3-5 course level objectives because they overarch the topics of your entire course.
The lesson objectives directly support the course level objectives. For example, a student might need to demonstrate mastery of 8 lesson level objectives in order to demonstrate mastery of one course level objective.

Make sure there is one measurable verb in each objective.
Each objective needs one verb. Either a student can master the objective or they fail to master it. If an objective has two verbs (say, define and apply), what happens if a student can define, but not apply? Are they demonstrating mastery?
Ensure that the verbs in the course objective are at least at the highest Bloom's Taxonomy as the highest lesson level objectives that support it. (We can't verify they can evaluate if our lessons only taught them (and assessed) to define.)
Strive to keep all objectives measurable, clear, and concise.