Researchers at the Coast Guard Academy have designed and tested a series of exercises for assessing the development of intellectual skills in an interdisciplinary context and providing career-related motivation for continued learning. These exercises are based on realistic situations that cadets might encounter as commissioned officers in the Coast Guard. Participants must make a series of decisions that are deliberately designed to require integration of knowledge and skills from different parts of the curriculum. An interactive computer format is used to make the exercise more interesting and flexible; this format also facilitates the collection of response data for later analysis and feedback. Initial testing with samples of 65 and 49 cadets was followed by a test with almost an entire Academy class (282 cadets). Early results indicate that the exercise concept is beneficial to both students and faculty. Appendix 1 presents the Academy's core curriculum; Appendix 2 lists the desired outcomes of an Academy education; Appendix III provides the first exercise scenario administered to freshmen cadets at the beginning of their first term. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/SLD)