Patricia Totusek

Patricia Totusek is Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she directs foundational communication courses.

Education:

• B.F.A. English & Speech, Texas Christian University
• M.A. Instructional Communication, University of Texas at Austin
• Ph.D. Organizational Communication, University of Texas at Austin

Her pedagogical research examines curriculum design for communication competencies, focusing on scaffolding skill development across undergraduate education. Special interests include ethics integration in communication training, multimodal instructional approaches, and cultivating professional communication literacies. She has developed innovative frameworks for teaching interpersonal, small group, and public communication competencies in hybrid learning environments.

Totusek has received multiple teaching excellence nominations for her work in developing communication curriculum that bridges theoretical concepts with practical application. She leads faculty development workshops on leveraging educational technology and designing competency-based assessment.