"By rote". If someone is unfamiliar with the common English term or is understands it is "by habit" but isn't getting the implicit comparison with a practice f

"By rote". If someone is unfamiliar with the common English term or is understands it is "by habit" but isn't getting the implicit comparison with a practice following an understanding of the underlying process it, like the image of "cargo cult" referenced in the metaphor, may need expanded a bit on first encounter, but it is both more concise, and uses direct denotation rather than metaphor.