As a core foundational course in traditional civil engineering, foundation engineering has been widely applied in fields such as oceanography, water conservancy, transportation, energy, and environmental protection. To better meet the needs of the society and the industry in the course content of foundation engineering, combined with the actual situation of the foundation engineering course at Sun Yat-sen University, advanced teaching concepts from domestic and foreign universities have been absorbed, and research and exploration have been conducted on the teaching reform of the foundation engineering course. In terms of teaching content, while enriching and expanding the teaching content, the core content is simplified necessarily. In terms of teaching methods, great importance is attached to the organic combination of engineering practice teaching and virtual simulation teaching. In terms of assessment methods, based on improving traditional written exams, students’ ability to solve practical problems is comprehensively improved and examined through course design.