This study investigated the effects of direct instruction and an environmentally designed instructional strategy on the product and process characteristics of kindergarten and second grade children in the standing long jump. One hundred and sixteen kindergarten and second grade students participated in the study and were assigned to a 3-day, 60-trial, direct instruction group or a 3-day, 60-trial, environmentally designed instruction group. A pretest, posttest, and retention test were administered in a flat mat testing condition and one designed to elicit performance through the testing environment (the swamp). Both instructional intervention groups were different from the control group at the posttest and the retention test. Younger students, less skilled students, and students tested at the pretest benefited most from the environmental testing condition. With age, skill, and experience the environmental testing condition lost its advantage. The instructional interventions had different effects on the process characteristics of the jump
