A study examined the perceptions of participants in a multidisciplinary project regarding the degree to which the integration of technology, mathematics, and science had enabled advanced mental skills in technical thinking and problem solving. A literature review focused on advanced learning and thinking, ill-structured workplace problems, learning transfer, and activating potential knowledge. The research sample consisted of 148 students participating in multidisciplinary projects at 4 high schools in Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. A four-page questionnaire collected data that were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) statistical procedures followed by descriptive discriminant analysis (DDA). Results confirmed the significance of grade level, part-time work experience, and enthusiasm to students' ability to benefit from the multidisciplinary approach. Ill-structured problems proved to be a key aspect of the underlying structure and the separation of groups among the dependent variables. (Appendixes include 29 references and 3 data tables.) (YLB)