You turn the left-most dial with your right hand and the right-most dial with your left hand if you are using the rear elements after coming in at an angle to clear pans on the front elements. You would not want to be using a 12" pan on one of them. The controls should have been on the backsplash, maybe even up like Westinghouse, but then it would not be American Motors' designing. The right hand side rear element is a cheapo replacement.