The "seeing architecture at beginning" course has been the first sub topic of the national level excellent course of architectural design basis in South China University of Technology since 1994. This paper summarized the adjustments and reforms in teaching goals, teaching contents, teaching methods and teaching achievements of the course in recent 20 years, and analysed the causes of the changes and adjustments. It proposed that making a clear positioning of the course and taking students as the dominant had continuously improved the course's interests and the students' participation. It also pointed out that the teaching reform is not to simply rely on copying some models, but needs a long-term practice and running in process aiming at the actual situation of students.