Reviews and surveys of teaching and learning methods with virtual reality (VR) often lack rigor in the classification of instructional design methods for immersive learning. This systematic review proposes and applies three established yet unexplored frameworks to analyze sixteen Scopus-indexed empirical studies using immersive virtual reality in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in higher education in the post-pandemic era (2022–2024). Results showed that the most popular pedagogical design approaches for STEM in VR were role-playing in context, watching virtual worlds passively and interactive observation of 3D objects. The most common learning types were practice, inquiry, acquisition, and collaboration. Practice was the most effective learning activity type reported. The social aspect of learning was the least utilized and hence a promising direction for future research.