There's no doubt that research bearing directly on classroom practice is crucial. In this article Daniel Willingham maintains that it's useful for educators also to know the basic science around children's cognition, emotion, and motivation, because beliefs about what children are like inevitably influence teaching practice. The purpose of learning the science would be to broaden and deepen that knowledge, and to disabuse teachers of any misconceptions they might have. Still, not everything of concern to scientists is valuable to educators. The author makes the point that some statements concerning children's learning are perfectly sound scientifically but should not influence educational decisions. That includes some statements that seem like they ought to have a direct bearing on classrooms. In this article, Willingham describes three types of statements scientists make, only one of which he thinks ought to influence teaching practice, but he points out that even that type of statement, can be misapplied.