Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2016

De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines

March 7-9, 2016

El Fuego: A Teachware on Fire Safety Awareness and Prevention

Kurt Cristobal1, Brian Christopher Ramos1, Miguel Tañedo1,
and Alain L. Encarnacion2,*
1 Undergraduate Students, De La Salle University

2 Faculty, College of Computer Studies, De La Salle University

*Corresponding Author: alain.encarnacion@dlsu.edu.ph

Abstract: As the Republic Act 1945 or the ͞Amendment Fire Code of 2008͟ requires, the Bureau of Fire
Protection conducts seminars and drills to raise awareness and to help prevent fire-related accidents in
the Philippines. To conduct the seminar, the use of slideshow presentations are very limiting because
the slides are non-interactive, and the presentation is quite linear. As such, it can be difficult to simulate
and represent certain scenarios and processes. Thus, there was a need to come up with a teaching
solution that would be more interactive and more adjustable.

The proponents decided to develop a teachware to be used by the instructors of the fire-safety seminar
that would solve issues for instructors, issues such as non-interactiveness and linearity.

The teachware uses two instructional theories, the Cause and Effect and the Cognitive Flexibility Theory.
For example, residential building fire scenarios are not able to be constructed physically, thus, some
lessons in the teachware contain a scenario-based design that show a cause and effect event. As per the
Cognitive Flexibility Theory, emphasis is placed upon the presentation of information from multiple
perspectives and use of many case studies that present diverse examples. These were adapted to
address the problem issues encountered by the instructors who conduct the seminar using more
traditional means, such as slideshow presentations.

The main topics in the teachware are understanding fire, preventive measures through good
housekeeping, and fire precautions and emergency plans. The content was designed by the Bureau of
Fire Protection, organized by the proponents to maximize the teachware, applying the instructional
theories. The teachware incorporated a mixture of videos, animation, images, text and interactive
activities.

Key Words: teachware, fire safety, learning innovation

Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol 4 2016

ISSN 2449-3309
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2016
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 7-9, 2016

1. INTRODUCTION 2. FRAMEWORK

Due to increasing number of fire incidents, The teachware will be categorizing each
the Bureau of Fire Protection, also known as the module to a more proper arrangement, which varies
from understanding the concepts of fire to the
DILG Act of 1990, was created under the mandate of
preventive measures through good housekeeping and
Rule 111, Section 49 of the Republic Act. The Bureau the precautions to be done when a fire occurs. In this
is responsible to conduct seminars and drills to raise framework, the flow of the teachware will not be
awareness and to help prevent fire-related accidents sequential and linear as to what the current method
in the Philippines. To ensure public safety and is. In this way of delivery, the instructor will have
promote economic development through the the option of differentiating, comparing, and
manipulating each topic more freely, thus making
prevention and suppression of all kinds of destructive
the seminar more of letting the learners have the
fires, the Bureau fully implemented the RA 1945 or essence of being fire safety aware instead of just
“Amendment Fire Code of 2008”. With the giving them pure concepts.
establishment of the RA 1945, the Bureau is required
to conduct seminars and drills to all private and The teachware will be utilizing two
public buildings, facilities or structures erected or instructional theories, which are the Cause and
constructed before and after its affectivity. Effect and the Cognitive Flexibility Theory.

The Bureau conducts daily seminars to The Cause and Effect concept refers to the
residential housings, government institutes, and concept of causality, from which events are the cause
private sectors, teaching all the owners, of another event. This concept will be used to teach
administrators or occupants of buildings, structures the first module which is about Understanding Fire.
and their premises or facilities and other responsible This module consists of the scientific processes such
persons within the premises. Each seminar is cut as the Fire Triangle, Stages of Fire, Methods of Heat
Transfer and the Classification of Fire. These topics
into two parts; The Learning Process and Actual
are applicable to the concept of Cause and Effect
Demonstration. The first part of the seminar is the because all of these processes have a cause or an
longest and is most important, since it is where the event that has a corresponding consequence that led
important aspects of fire are thoroughly discussed to another phenomenon or event. The cause and
with the attendees. effect will be shown through animations in order for
the instructor to be able to have an easier time
To conduct the seminar, the use of slideshow teaching the topic. For example, a fire that was
caused by a household appliance falls under a Class
presentations are very limiting because the slides are
C fire. The cause of the fire was an appliance that
non-interactive, and the presentation is quite linear. was left unattended and short circuited thus leading
As such, it can be difficult to simulate and represent to a fire that can be extinguished by a fire
certain scenarios and processes. Thus, there was a extinguisher and not simply by just using water.
need to come up with a teaching solution that would
be more interactive and more adjustable. Cognitive Flexibility Theory is a theory that
allows the reconstruction of knowledge through many
different ways. This theory is the basis and is used to
The proponents decided to develop a teach all of the modules. For these modules, it
teachware to be used by the instructors of the fire- includes different scenarios which can be
safety seminar that would solve issues for manipulated wherein in these scenarios the objects
instructors, issues such as non-interactiveness and can be moved and have multiple options to show
linearity. different outcomes that may happen when an object
is dragged to a certain location. In these options
there is only one correct answer and if the wrong

Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol 4 2016

ISSN 2449-3309
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2016
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 7-9, 2016

answer is given, then it will show why the answer is place to put a certain object supported with the
wrong. Once the right option is made, then it would proper audio.
proceed with the next scenario and this will continue
until all the scenarios are finished. Let us take For example, on figure 2.1, a stove next to
preventive measures and fire hazards inside the the LPG tank on the right is left on with the frying
house as an example. In this example, there will be pan on it. During the seminar, the instructor will ask
different settings such as kitchen, living room and what are the potential fire hazards from the display.
the garage. In each of these settings there are The longer it takes the audience to identify a hazard,
different scenarios given. For example, if the kitchen the more it will show signs of danger, such as the
setting is chosen, then the objective of the setting is frying pan emitting large amounts of smoke. This
for the instructor to teach the proper preventive will continue until the pan is dragged away from the
measures in a kitchen situation. It is done by stove and put in its proper place and the stove turned
showing the what and where not to's in the kitchen. off. This goes with other such fire hazards as
Fire prone objects such as liquid materials, lighters, overloaded or octopus sockets or open sources of fire
cords, and metallic objects will be used as drag and left on. This is an example of scenario-based
drop objects by the instructor. The instructor would learning, and cause and effect.
be using drag and drop to place the objects in its
proper position. If an object is wrongly placed, then a
new screen would pop up to show what is wrong and
explain what needs to be done. For the fire
precautions and emergency plans, Scenario Based
Learning will also be used for the different topics. An
example would be the fire escape plan; the instructor
is given a fire scenario and there are choices in which
the instructor can choose from. In these choices there
would be a correct and wrong way of escaping fire.
Cognitive Flexibility Theory is important for the
teachware because the topics mostly use images and
they are not able to express and teach fully the
lesson. It needs to be recreated and reconstructed for Figure 2.2 Fire Precaution Sample Screen. Text,
the instructor to be able to teach the topic better. visuals, animations, and videos are present in this
With these options, the instructor is able to teach the screen, and the same goes for the sub topics screens.
module in a more fun and effective manner. In this module, for the Fire Scenarios, there will be
four scenarios given and the instructor can choose
what scenario he would like to teach. After choosing
a scenario, it will show the description or video of a
scenario and a list of different solutions which could
either be right or wrong. When the instructor clicks
an answer, a popup screen will come out saying why
this certain solution is right or wrong, supported
with audio or video.

For example, in figure 2.2, the audience is

asked what to do if they are inside their room with
fire closing in. When a choice is selected, a video is
displayed reenacting the choice and what would
Figure 2.1. Fire Prevention Sample Screen. Text, happen because of it. This is also an example of
visuals, and animations are present in this screen, scenario-based learning, and cause and effect.
and the same goes for the sub topics screens.
Draggable objects are also present. Once the
instructor moves around an object to a place, a pop
out screen will appear which will explain the proper

Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol 4 2016

ISSN 2449-3309
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2016
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 7-9, 2016

such as hotels, motels, and malls will not be covered

by the teachware due to limitations and because
based on statistics, residential areas have a higher
chance of setting fire than commercial buildings.

Topics include:
1. Understanding Fire
2. Fire prevention through Good Housekeeping
3. Fire precautions through fire emergency
plans

4. TOPIC OUTLINE OF THE

Figure 2.3 Understanding Fire Sample Screen. This
TEACHWARE
screen is interactivate such that objects can be
The topics were developed by the Bureau of Fire
dragged into an appropriate area and a popup screen
Protection, and organized by the proponents to their
will appear explaining what happened.
logical groupings, typically by the similarities in
topics, and the similarities or differences of
For example, in figure 2.3, to emphasize the
approaches to be used in the teachware.
fire triangle, that is, the needed elements of fire, and
to show how to stop a fire by eliminating one of the
Module 1: Understanding Fire
sides of the triangle, a cooking pan with a closed lid
can be used to effectively knock out the oxygen side
1 ) Definition of Fire
of the fire triangle, illustrating, for example, that if
2 ) Stages of fire
there is fire inside the cooking pan, covering it with
a. Incipient Stage
the lid can help deprive the fire of its needed oxygen,
b. Smoldering Stage
thus helping it die out. The instructor can use this
c. Flame Stage
illustration while explaining the fire triangle and
d. Heat Stage
then asking the audience for examples on how to
3 ) Classes of fire
eliminate any and each of the sides of the fire
a. Class A Fires
triangle. This is also an example of scenario-based
b. Class B Fires
learning, and cause and effect.
c. Class C Fires
d. Class D Fires
When these various styles or methodologies
4 ) Methods of Heat Transfer
of presenting information are combined, it is an
a. Direct Heat Transfer
example of the application of cognitive flexibility
b. Heat Transfer by Radiation
theory, that is, allowing learners to learn using
c. Heat Transfer by Conduction
various methodologies, and reinforcing previous
d. Heat Transfer by Convection
learnings through different perspectives or
presentations.
Module 2: Fire Prevention through Good
Housekeeping

3. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS 1 ) Preventing fire accidents in different

areas of the house
The teachware covers Fire Awareness and a. Kitchen Area
Safety among Residential areas such as family b. House Rooms
buildings (bungalow houses, two-story buildings), c. Garage / Storage Areas
apartments, residential condominiums, and
dormitories (particularly in Quezon City). These are 2 ) Usage of Fire Alarms
areas wherein people are not transient, or people a. Automatic Fire Alarms
that live in one place. Commercial establishments b. Manual Fire Alarms

Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol 4 2016

ISSN 2449-3309
 Presented at the DLSU Research Congress 2016
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
March 7-9, 2016

6. REFERENCES
Module 3: Fire Precautions
1 ) Fire Escape Plans
a. How to properly escape a fire
depending on the scenario Jonassen, D., Ambruso, D . & Olesen, J. (1992).
b. Locating, Understanding and Designing hypertext on transfusion medicine using
drawing out an effective emergency cognitive flexibility theory. Journal of Educational
plan. Multimedia and Hypermedia, 1(3), 309-322.
c. What to do when caught in fire
d. How to differ a fire-fighter siren
Spiro, R.J., Coulson, R.L., Feltovich, P.J., &
from any other emergency sirens
Anderson, D. (1988). Cognitive flexibility theory:
1. Fire Truck Siren
2. Police Siren Advanced knowledge acquisition in ill-structured
3. Ambulance Siren domains. In V. Patel (ed.), Proceedings of the 10th
Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
2 ) Fire Extinguisher Mechanics Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
a. Checklist for Fire Extinguisher
maintenance Spiro, R.J., Feltovich, P.J., Jacobson, M.J., &
b. The different types of Fire
Coulson, R.L. (1992). Cognitive flexibility,
Extinguishers
1. Dry Powder Fire constructivism and hypertext: Random access
Extinguisher instruction for advanced knowledge acquisition in ill-
2. Foam Fire Extinguisher structured domains. In T. Duffy & D. Jonassen
3. Carbon Dioxide Fire (Eds.), Constructivism and the Technology of
Extinguisher Instruction. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
4. Water Fire Extinguisher
c. Proper procedure in using a Fire
Spiro, R.J. & Jehng, J. (1990). Cognitive flexibility
Extinguisher
and hypertext: Theory and technology for the non-
1. P-A-S-S Method
linear and multidimensional traversal of complex
subject matter. D. Nix & R. Spiro (eds.), Cognition,
Education, and Multimedia. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
5. EVALUATION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

After realizing 2D images are not enough, the

teachware employed videos simulating the situations
and lessons being described. Additional videos and
animation would further improve the attractiveness
and efficacy of the teachware.

The teachware was signed off and accepted by the

client after presenting it to them. They agree that the
teachware can address the issues they had when
conducting the seminar without the tool.

Proceedings of the DLSU Research Congress Vol 4 2016

ISSN 2449-3309