The internationalization of higher education in China started relatively lately, currently both the training objectives and teaching models of international students were still in the exploratory stage. In other words, there was still a big gap regarding the teaching effect between international and local students. In this study, initially the main difficulties encountered by international students in their professional teaching activities were summarized, followed by analysis on the causes of the above problems from the perspectives of college teaching mode. Secondly, combined with the professional background of civil engineering, the application scope of “ output-oriented method” was expanded. All the the teaching concept, teaching hypothesis and teaching process suitable for civil engineering specialty were put forward. Furthermore, taking the engineering geology course of international students as an example, a mixed teaching mode in line with the educational concept of “output-oriented method” was designed, and its teaching effect was demonstrated. The teaching practice has proved that the mixed teaching mode could significantly improve the teaching quality and was widely welcomed by the international students. The relevant results could provide reference for further promoting the reform and development of engineering education for international students.