Abstract:In order to meet the needs of rapid development of bridge construction in China, and to improve the current mode of talent education in universities which lays less stress on the practice with too much importance attached to the theory, and also to narrow the gap between the social demand and the undergraduate capability in bridge engineering, an integrated mode of theory and practice teaching is proposed for the curriculum of computing for bridge structures based on the predicament in the current theory and practice teaching. The theory knowledge is mixed together into the modeling practice of realistic bridge structures in the four teaching sections as curriculum provision, teaching content, teaching method and evaluation scheme. According to the typical categories of bridges, learning in groups is arranged and the project-based teaching method is introduced into the class, so that the role of student can be changed and the students will seize and even explore on their own initiatives the functions and principles of the finite element software, rather than accept the operation regulations by passive memory. This new teaching method is believed to enhance the students’ employment competitiveness and also their adaptive faculty for future career development.