For students in surveying and mapping major, Surveying course is not only one of the core courses, but also a basic theoretical course. A good mastery of this fundamental course will surely have direct influence on learning effects of the following courses in this major. With the aid of Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI), how to deeply optimize the teaching effect and quality in a scientific and orderly way for the Surveying course? Profoundly considering the perspective of advantages and current status of CAI, this paper makes a full discussion on applications of CAI in teaching of Surveying course to match its content features, and puts forward that principles of CAI should be fully carried out in teaching activities of Surveying course, so that the teaching objectives can be accomplished and teaching contents handled correctly and effectively. © 2010 IEEE.