Virtual Reality is a technology that can alter a user s perception and transport them into a technology-mediated environment created by the designer of that virtual experience. This research examines the design of immersive Virtual Reality experiences that aim to inform or educate participants about complex topics. To do so, we use UX and educational taxonomies as a basis for categorizing the experiences. The selection of publications for analysis was made from a massive base of published works on virtual reality. An original methodology was used, created for this research and detailed throughout, based on computational data science techniques to classify the results, facilitating the selection and minimizing biases. At the end of this iterative process, the chosen works were analyzed in terms of learning, engagement, and their specific UX and educational characteristics. Such analysis indicates that the educational potential of Virtual Reality is significant and applicable in a variety of areas, and that it is possible to create engaging experiences with relative ease. However, the educational effectiveness of the experience is more complex to achieve. We explore suggestions that may have the potential to achieve this outcome, such as: more focus on instructional design; more collaboration; more instructor participation; more interactions that allow for creative activities, as well as more creative ways of presenting information. These suggestions and recommendations can help designers of Virtual Reality experiences (or other types of technology-mediated realities) to provide or explore the potential for experiences that may prove more effective in achieving the goals of educating or informing about complex topics.