Background: For many physical educators, the Spectrum of Teaching Styles serves as a "tool box" for meeting the different needs of students and goals in physical education. Despite the proliferation in Spectrum research in which researchers have examined teacher experience and student skill, knowledge, and social learning within the styles, little is known of the extent to which students perceive the Spectrum teaching styles. Exploring students' perceptions about the teaching styles will broaden our understanding of the ways students learn, what students identify as the benefits and drawbacks of the teaching styles, the relationships that students perceive between the styles and learning domains, and student style preferences. Purpose: The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine students' perceptions of physical, cognitive, and social involvement in physical activity lessons conducted in the command, practice, and inclusion styles of teaching and (b) to examine student preference for different teaching styles. Setting and participants: A total of 77 college-aged students enrolled in four different physical activity classes at a university in the USA participated in this study. Data collection: All students participated in three 50-minute lessons. One lesson was delivered in the command style, one in the practice style, and one in the inclusion style. All 12 lessons were taught by one Spectrum trained teacher. The students performed the same series of pilates exercises in all the three lessons. After each lesson, the students completed two questionnaires that included statements addressing physical, cognitive, and social involvement (seven-point semantic-differential scales), style preference, and rating of perceived exertion. Additionally, individual interviews were conducted with four students from each class after each lesson. Findings: The students reported feeling more physically and cognitively involved in the inclusion-style lessons than in the command- and practice-style lessons. No differences were found for social involvement. In terms of style preference, the inclusion and command styles were selected most frequently. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the command, practice, and inclusion styles can influence the level of student involvement in physical activity lessons. (Contains 1 table.)