Is there any difference biomechanically between a short and a long lunge?

I have found that one of the best ways to teach this to someone is to have them perform stationary lunges with their feet spread to an appropriate distance, mark the floor at their feet with painters tape (peels up real easy), and then have them stand at one tape and step out or back to the other tape. Once they are able to do this with alternating steps in good form, we can move to walking lunges, and eventually to weighted walking lunges.