Students' Investigative Skills and the Physics Laboratory - research and good practice seen from 'Down Under'

How we would love to know the recipe for making a good scientist or great physicist!  A recent higher education project explored physics learning and teaching in 34 Australian universities. It revealed a strong commitment to laboratory work in the curriculum in spite of staffing and resource challenges. This talk will report the findings, with examples of good practices which are widely applicable in HE science education. Particular attention will be drawn to our research on how students become scientists.