Red cultural resources are pivotal in enhancing the pedagogical impact of ideological and political education within higher education institutions. The process of digitally converting these resources significantly broadens the avenues for communication, enriches the content, and elevates the efficiency of dissemination. This investigation delves into the synergistic fusion of virtual reality (VR) technologies with red cultural assets, leveraging the distinct capabilities of VR— namely its immersive, interactive, and perceptual qualities—to augment the efficacy of ideological and political theory instruction in universities. To refine the graphical detail within the virtual environments, this study introduces an adaptive Level of Detail (LOD) model generation algorithm. This novel approach builds upon traditional LOD techniques by incorporating a mesh simplification strategy that utilizes edge collapse. The cost of edge collapse is quantified through a combination of the quadratic error metric and the product of model surface curvature with the length of the collapsed edge. This method facilitates the rapid generation of recursive mesh models, enhancing the visual quality and performance of the VR experience. The practical application of virtual red cultural resources in civics education was evaluated through a comparative study. The empirical findings indicate that the integration of these resources into civics classes resulted in a significant improvement in student performance, with the experimental group outperforming the control group by an average of 11.01 points in post-test assessments. Additionally, the majority of students exposed to the VR-enhanced teaching methodology expressed a high degree of satisfaction, underscoring the potential of virtual cultural resources to enrich traditional educational settings. This demonstrates the transformative potential of integrating advanced digital tools with red cultural content in academic contexts.