In order to serve the construction of a powerful marine country, to support the "Belt and Road" initiative, and to build the infrastructure of a modern and powerful country, Tsinghua University, Sun Yat-sen University and other colleges and universities have recently established the undergraduate majors in civil, hydraulic and marine engineering. Foundation engineering is the core basic course of traditional civil engineering, which has been widely used in marine, water conservancy, transportation, energy, environmental protection and other fields. In order to make the content of foundation engineering course better meet the needs of the development of society and industry, combined with the actual situation of foundation engineering courses of Sun Yat-sen University, the advanced teaching concepts of domestic and foreign universities are absorbed, and the research and exploration of foundation engineering teaching reform is carried out. In terms of teaching content, enrich and expand the teaching content while simplifying the core content; in terms of teaching methods, attach importance to the organic combination of engineering practice teaching and virtual simulation teaching; in terms of assessment methods, based on the improvement of traditional written examinations, the students' ability to apply knowledge in practice and solve practical problems is comprehensively exercised and examined through course design. This paper aims to cultivate innovative and compound talents for civil engineering, water conservancy and marine engineering.