Gen Z students often struggle to engage with theory-heavy, text-centric courses, and traditional assessments (essays, journals) can lead to low involvement and even academic integrity issues. This paper introduces a pedagogical innovation in a Media Cultures 1 course: replacing conventional essay assignments with student-created interactive Virtual Reality (VR) projects using the CoSpaces platform. Over two years of reflective teaching practice (autoethnographic method), we implemented and refined this VR-based learning approach and documented its impact through instructor observations and informal student feedback. We found that the VR integration increased student enthusiasm, class attendance, and in-class interactivity. Students became content creators, which not only deepened their engagement with media theory but also dramatically reduced AI-generated or plagiarized submissions. The capstone assessment evolved into an exhibition-style showcase of VR projects, fostering greater student ownership and peer learning. This reflective study introduces the “IMMERSE” framework to guide VR adoption in theory-heavy courses. Our results suggest that immersive assignments, coupled with guided reflection, can transform student attitudes in abstract subjects, offering a transferable strategy to enhance engagement and academic integrity in higher education.