Professor and Licensed Psychologist
221 Uhler Hall
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
1020 Oakland Avenue
Indiana, PA 15705
Brief Bio
Mark McGowan joined the faculty in 2008 after earning his PhD in counseling psychology from Northern Arizona University. He is a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania, a registrant of the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology, and a nationally certified school psychologist with over 20 years of experience working with culturally diverse populations in a wide variety of professional settings.
Research
McGowan’s research focuses on topics that include violence and aggression in schools, assessment of developmental disorders and giftedness, and mental health intervention. His work has appeared in journals such as American Behavioral Scientist, Psychological Assessment, and Roeper Review. He has also authored numerous book chapters that have appeared in textbooks for both students and practitioners in the field. McGowan is also a regular contributor to professional publications such as the Pennsylvania Psychologist and serves on the editorial board for the professional journal Psychology in the Schools.
Service
McGowan’s service has been focused on the needs of the university, community, and profession. University service has focused predominantly on program accreditation and curricular matters. In the community, McGowan served on the board of directors for the Indiana Regional Medical Center, Indiana Healthcare Corporation, and the Pennsylvania Mountains Care Network for over 10 years. Professionally, he has been very involved with the Pennsylvania Psychological Association and has served PPA in many capacities, including serving on the board of directors, executive board, and budget and finance board.
Philosophy of Teaching
"Grounded in a scientist-practitioner model of training, my instructional goals are to further students' professional development by assisting each student in building upon strengths and interests in an interactive learning process that encourages balance among theory, research, and practice. Although objectives and expectations of specific courses vary in accordance with the needs of students and content requirements, this model provides the foundation for my teaching philosophy as well as the context for student learning in my classes. By placing an emphasis on the integration of skill sets into professional training, my intent is to provide students with an educational experience that is motivating, practical, and functional for the development of independent learning skills.
"In designing course format and evaluation requirements, I strive to optimize student engagement and success. By establishing linkages between course objectives and the professional goals of students, learners are motivated to adopt an active role in the educational process and individual professional development. Student success is supported through structured and sequenced learning activities that build on skill sets previously mastered or that are developed within the context of the course. Successful outcomes for learning are not merely measured by student comprehension or rote memorization of course material, but by the student's ability to meaningfully apply understandings in situations typically encountered in aspired professional roles. Ultimately, modeling professional roles as scientist and practitioner, students learn how to be discriminating consumers of professional knowledge as each strives to achieve professional excellence in the field of psychology.
"In the classroom, I make an effort to engage students in the learning process through a multimodal approach that includes didactic instruction, collaborative learning activities, modeling/demonstration, supervised practice, and experiential exercises. For example, when I teach the graduate level course in psychological assessment, didactic instruction generally includes my own PowerPoint presentations accompanied by a written outline for students to follow and questions or creative exercises for stimulating class discussion. Integration and application of concepts is encouraged using case studies that require the student to actively engage in problem solving within a practical context. Individual mentoring is also a priority in my teaching. I actively encourage dialogue with students during office hours, by appointment, telephone, and e-mail. I seek student feedback, talk with peers, attend professional meetings, read about and experiment with new methods to continuously improve my teaching techniques and outcomes.”