Abstract: The optimal control is the required course for postgraduates majored in Control Science and Engineering. It is also the degree course for those majored in Mechanics, particularly in the area of dynamics and control. As an elementary course, it has extensive engineering applications with theoretical implications. The focus of this paper is how to improve the teaching and cultivate students' learning interest and innovative ability. The essential problem of the teaching reform, teaching objectives, teaching content and materials are discussed as well as teaching methods. Some measures of the teaching reform, such as the seminar-style teaching and the BOPPPS teaching structure, are successfully applied in the course with good results.