To improve the teaching quality and change the traditional "teacher talk only" teaching mode, characteristics of the applied soil mechanics course and shortcomings of traditional "teacher-book-class" teaching mode are analyzed in this paper. Flipped classroom teaching mode reform is carried out by selecting knowledge points to record micro class, arranging learning task list before class, and making corresponding assessment plan. Students are grouped according to the level of credit points to ensure the smooth implementation of the reform. The analysis shows that students' learning enthusiasm, initiative, teaching participation and knowledge mastery are improved. For the selected parts of soil mechanics, the mode of flipped class is more suitable for the differentiation background of today's students.