Addressing existing challenges within the discipline of architecture, the building industry, and student recruitment, this paper briefly synthesizes relevant teaching experiences from China and abroad. With “cultivating design thinking” as the course objective, it implements a teaching reform for the “Design Fundamentals” courses in the first year of three majors: Architecture, Urban and Rural Planning, and Historic Preservation. The study employs a four-pronged strategy—“lesson plan reconstruction, system optimization, format innovation, and assessment enhancement”—to achieve breakthroughs. This approach establishes rational and pragmatic design foundation lesson plans, builds a comprehensive design course cluster, and forms an efficient, multi-faceted teaching model. Knowledge production is achieved through diverse outcome formats. Teaching evaluation data indicates an average course quality rating of 98.8 points. Combined with faculty-student interviews and academic performance analysis, this model demonstrates significant effectiveness in enhancing teaching efficiency and stimulating learning interest, providing valuable reference for design foundation education reform in similar institutions.