The contents of tunneling engineering course is wide coverage and scattered, the traditional teaching mode is difficult to achieve the desired effect, it is urgent needed to innovative teaching mode. This paper combined with characteristics of the course, divided the course into five modules according to involving scientific and engineering problems, by using of modular teaching methods, they are basic concepts module, geological and mechanical problems module,construction module,new techniques and methods module,management and maintenance module. In addition, it is also proposed to divide the course module according to the engineering project construction phase, and further enrich modular teaching method. The practice shows, this teaching mode helps students in-depth understanding the course content, and establish the professional knowledge system.