Use short-form videos to build community in large courses

Large university programmes face a common challenge: fostering a sense of community when students feel like one face among hundreds.

For economics departments, this problem is particularly acute. Cohorts are large. Teaching is predominantly lecture-based. Communication tends to flow in one direction: from department to student via email, a virtual learning environment or a formal announcement. This is efficient, but rarely feels personal. As a result, many students feel disconnected from their departments’ wider intellectual and social environments.

Over the past year, I have been experimenting with a different approach – reaching students via short-form, TikTok-style videos. I want these videos to do more than communicate information efficiently; I want them to make the department feel human.

Each three- to four-minute video focuses on topics such as student society activities, departmental life, research highlights, alumni achievements and career opportunities. They combine short reports, event coverage and conversations with members of the department. They are fast-paced and conversational on-location videos with quick cuts, presented by students and featuring peers and academics. They prioritise authenticity and personality over polished institutional messaging. Crucially, the videos are co-created with students to give them a sense of ownership and creative agency, while ensuring that the content is relevant to the target audience. 

From information broadcasts to connection

The short-form videos are a deliberate departure from traditional university communication. A newsletter tells students what is happening but a video shows them who is involved. It shows the faces of the people who make up the department. That distinction is important because in large cohorts, students often struggle with a lack of connection. Seeing and hearing real people might help to bridge that gap. 

While it is difficult to measure belonging, the videos have generated encouraging levels of engagement so far. The first six episodes received more than 1,000 views on YouTube, while the four most recent episodes attracted more than 12,000 views on Instagram. Although such metrics do not prove community-building on their own, they suggest that this human-centred form of communication resonates.

The videos work because they are concise, making them easy to fit into busy student lives. Rather than demanding a significant time commitment, they deliver information in an accessible format.

Platform the voices in your department

In large programmes, many contributors to the student experience remain invisible: the academic running a module, the administrator supporting students, the alumnus navigating a career path. By including them in the videos, we acknowledge and celebrate their contributions.

Equally important is voice. When students see their peers presenting stories, reporting on events and taking visible roles within the department, it normalises participation. This is particularly valuable for students who might otherwise feel hesitant to engage. In this sense, the project is less about content delivery and more about building community.

• Spotlight guide: How to build belonging at your institution
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Advice on creating engaging short-form videos

Two strategies can help departments considering similar approaches. First, take a chance on co-creation. Involving students in production increases both relevance and authenticity and gives them a stake in the department’s culture. To make this work, partner with student representatives and societies to connect with and identify meaningful stories, recruit presenters and volunteers and gather feedback. While coordinating busy student volunteers can be challenging, appointing a small core team and meeting regularly throughout the term can help maintain continuity and momentum.

Second, embrace informality. Not all communication needs to be polished or formal. Give students a platform to tell stories as if they were sharing them with friends. 

Creating video content does not require significant financial resources but it does take time. Our videos are produced with basic equipment and simple editing tools such as CapCut. The key investment is not technological but conceptual: communication should be a shared, human activity.

The role of communication in building belonging

Universities often think of communication as a way to transmit information. But in large cohorts, it also plays a central role in shaping belonging. Short-form video is not a universal solution, nor should higher education simply imitate social media. But it does highlight something important: students engage more when they can see themselves and others like them within the academic environment. 

In large and complex institutions, the shift from broadcasting to connecting might be one of the most important changes we can make.

Ramin Nassehi is associate professor (teaching) of economics at UCL.

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Watch videos from UCL's Economics department:

• Episode 5 of Inside UCL Economics
• Episode 6 of Inside UCL Economics 
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