Soil science students may come to their introductory course in the discipline with a variety of orientations to learning; for example, performance or mastery.  Others have observed that performance orientation is common and counter-productive, as students with this primary orientation to learning may be more concerned about their grades, and “whether this will be on the test” than about the deeper learning that often energizes their instructors.  It is that sort of mastery orientation which we wish to encourage among our students.  Specific strategies implemented included pre-reading on-line quizzes, flexible-application laboratory reports, opportunities to re-write laboratory reports, a laboratory practical, an appeals procedure for examinations, and an optional make-up exam.  Pre-reading on-line quizzes consisted of 10 multiple choice questions drawn from specific learning objectives relating to the impending week's lecture topic.  Flexible-application laboratory reports allowed students to make choices as to the audience for their comparative soil profile report (rural home-builder, wetland manager, or beef producer, for example), or to select the state soil to study for their final, integrative report.  Laboratory reports were graded rigorously against rubrics provided to students; however, students were given an opportunity to re-write several of the laboratory reports in an effort to improve their scores.  The laboratory practical asked students to demonstrate integrative learning across the course of the semester's laboratory sessions.  After each exam, students were encouraged to appeal, in writing, any subjective or objective items which they felt may not have been accurately graded.  The optional make-up exam, given during the final examination period, covered the first three of four course units, and if a student's score on the make-up exam exceeded their lowest score on any of the first three exams, the make-up exam score replaced that previous exam.  This report will describe our methods to encourage mastery orientation.