Abstract

As socio-economic development and industrial upgrading progress, civil engineering institutions urgently need to cultivate high-quality talents with innovative spirit and entrepreneurial skills to meet industry demands and global challenges. This study systematically explores the current curriculum and practical teaching modes of innovation and entrepreneurship education in civil engineering institutions through questionnaire surveys (n = 498) and case analysis. The results show that the existing curriculum system has issues such as imbalance between theory and practice, insufficient coverage of practical sessions, and a lack of entrepreneurial experience among teachers. Correlation analysis indicates that there is a significant correlation between curriculum content satisfaction and the effectiveness of practical teaching (r = 0.65). The regression model further validates that both have a positive impact on students’ career development expectations (β = 0.4 and 0.5, p < 0.001). This article proposes an optimized path: adding discipline-featured courses (such as “Green Building Technology Innovation”), building school-enterprise cooperation platforms to strengthen practical teaching (such as introducing real engineering projects), and implementing a dual mentor system to enhance the quality of faculty. This research provides theoretical and practical basis for civil engineering institutions to improve the innovation and entrepreneurship education system, helping to cultivate high-quality composite talents who meet industry needs.